Wild Magic
by Usagi-Hasano
Summary: Ranma is killed by a certain evil wizard and finds out he's part of a prophesy and is to be reborn. Problem? Jusenkyou had a little bit more fun just before he was reborn. RanmaSlayersHarry Potter with megacrosses from other things.
1. Blah to prophesies

Wild Magic

Ranma, Slayers, and other series I use are owned by there respective owners

"Speech"

(Thoughts)

Quigsly was a respectable person, or he would be if anyone actually respected him. He was a skinny, long greasy-haired man. He worked for an enigmatic branch of the Ministry of Magic known as Magic-Muggle Intelligence Department. Partly responsible for learning more about muggles, and at the moment, using what abnormalies they pick up to find the Dark Lord. He himself had to laugh at that though. Since with all the so called intelligence the department held, they knew nothing about the whereabouts of the Dark Lord. Quigsly on the other hand, wasn't quite so in the dark. Him being a follower an all, he knew how to get in contact.

This is why he was sneaking through the dense forest that night. He received an owl package from a fellow Dark Lord supporter who lived over in Japan. The package contained several papers concerning one person, a muggle. A muggle that piqued the interest of several dark wizards who took the task of finding everything they could about the boy. When Quigsly received the info, he paled, and decided he should inform his lord.

A sudden voice caused the greasy-haired louse to almost jump out of his skin, "This had better be good, Quigsly. What could possibly be so important that you must bother I, Lord Voldemort?" The cloaked figure said standing in the shadows. Quigsly bowed nervously and tried to find his voice.

"M...my apologies master, but some of your supporters in Japan have sent some startling information about a m..muggle." He squeaked in fear as Voldemort brought his want out. His eyes almost seemed to glow anger.

"You dare disturb me just for a muggle? You should know better you ignorant fool. I have no time for ignorance. Avada..." When the dark wizard began to cast the most forbidden of the forbidden spells, Quigsly became terrified.

"Wait, master, let me explain! This is just a muggle, but he has the power to kill a phoenix demi god!" The spell stopped, the wand was put away, and the loyal follower could feel his master's sudden interest. Looking up, the skinny man could see Voldemort stroking his chin in thought. Relief swelled that he wouldn't be pushing up daisies right then and there.

"How is this possible? A muggle defeating a god? He must have some magic in him. Not even Dumbledore himself has the power to do that."

"He doesn't use magic. He uses Ki. It's a life force energy that everyone has. It takes years for martial artists to achieve that. Not even some masters who have trained for decades can harness it, and this boy is only 18. He's been pushed to his limits since the day he was born. He can call up his ki and throw powerful ki blasts. He can use a technique called 'Soul of ice' and chill the air around him. By mixing his cold ki with the hot ki of his opponent, he can create a large tornado that sucks in things around it. He can toss an uncountable number of punches in a second. He's defeated the descendant of a dragon, and killed a phoenix demi-god. He's a person who never gives up, no matter what the odds." He said spurting off the info he got from the documents and images that were sent to him.

"The only thing he truly fears is cats, since he was thrown into a pit of them while being covered with fish sausage repeatedly by his own father when he was six." He saw the Dark Lord blanch. He may have been an evil dark wizard, but not even he could be evil enough to toss a young child into a pit of cats repeatedly. Quigsly continued again, "When his fear gets to great, he blacks out and begins acting like a cat. While like that, he has the traits of a cat. Enhanced speed, and he can use 'ki claws' that are powerful enough to slice metal as if it were paper."

Voldemort became thoughtful, "Interesting. This muggle, if left unchecked, could possibly stand in my way when I begin to increase my control a cross the planet." It couldn't be seen, but the cloaked figure that was Voldemort gave an evil smirk, "He could also become a powerful ally. Someone who could help me much faster. I must pay a visit to this boy. Your information was appreciated, Quigsly." The man bowed and was about ready to leave, "But you did call me out here in the dead of night when I was about ready to go to bed. For that, you must be punished."

A bat was roosting on one of the trees getting ready to fly off. Suddenly, there was a blood curdled scream that startled it, almost making it fall. As suddenly as the scream began, it stopped. Leaving the bat to wonder 'What the hell was that?'

oooooooooooooo

Lunchtime was quiet at Furinken High, at least it have been if it wasn't for the angry scream of 'RANMA!!!' echoing a cross the school yard. The object of the aggression was currently dodging mallet blows from his short tempered fiancée.

"Come on Akane. I told you I already ate. There's no reason for you to act all crazy." The pig-tailed youth said as he ducked a mallet swing. Things were going better than usual after the wedding fiasco. The insanity quieted down for about two months, but then it all started back up again when Shampoo figured two months was enough time for her 'Airen' to forgive her. One thing led to another, and everything was back to 'normal'.

This particular event was sparked by Akane offering him a bento of some bubbling purple ooze that sounded like it was screaming in pain. Ranma told the short tempered girl that he already ate, and was full. His fiancée didn't take it well, as usual, and began to shout about him probably waiting for his 'Cute Fiancée' to show up with her okonomiyaki. After a small argument, Akane brought out her mallet.

"Why don't you just come out and say my food is toxic waste like you usually do!? STAND STILL PERVERT!" The mallet finally connected and sent Ranma rocketing towards a tree 500 feet away. Standing up, the pigtailed boy was about to yell at the short-haired girl when he suddenly got a chill. Looking around, Ranma spotted a cloaked figure. It wasn't the figure itself that caused Ranma to feel uneasy. It was evil he was emanating.

"Who the hell are you?" The raven-haired boy demanded as he put himself on guard.

"Ranma Saotome." The figure said. Ranma could tell that the guy possibly came from somewhere in the west. Since he had an accent. "I have heard about your deeds. Your ki blasts, your ability to create a tornado, your impressive skills, and your defeat of a demi god." A sweat drop formed on Ranma's head. Who the hell was this guy? "I have a proposition for you. Join me in my quest for true power. Together we could have everything we want, and no one to stop us. Together, we could destroy anyone who opposes us." He said reaching out a pale hand.

Ranma narrowed his eyes. He would never abuse his abilities and harm the innocent. How dare this guy even think that he would consider it, "No way ya freak. I'm a martial artist, and as a martial artist. It is my duty to protect those who can't protect themselves. You're just some bastard with power who thinks he can take over." The pigtailed boy said getting ready for an assault. He could sense a bit of disappointment from this person.

"Pity. So much talent wasted on a muggle. Oh well, I'll just have to do away with you." He said in a matter-of-fact way. Reaching into his cloak pocket, he pulled out a long stick. A stick that made Ranma's hair stand on end for some reason. He figured it was probably magical, and since he had his fair share of magic. He knew it must be dangerous. He also wondered what 'muggle' meant.

As if on some cue, the younger Saotome took off towards the cloaked figure, "PETRIFICUS TOTALIS!" The figure said as something flew out of his wand and headed straight for the boy. Ranma, seeing it, jumped right over the joint locking curse and landed a double kick against Voldemort's chest. Knocking the dark wizard back and sending his want flying a few feet away from him.

"What's the matter? Nothing without that stick? You should know to not mess with Ranma Sao--GAAH!!" Ranma shouted in pain in pain after being kicked where the sun don't shine, "Th...that was a d...dirty trick you bastard." He said in anger and pain. The dark wizard just shrugged

"I'm an evil dark wizard. I don't have to play clean when it gets tough. ACCIO WAND!" The stick laying several feet away picked itself up and jetted in the Dark Lord's waiting hand. He turned around to deliver his death curse, but couldn't make it as Ranma grabbed his cloak and tossed him over his shoulder and onto the ground.

Landing on his butt, Voldemort began to re-assess this incident. The boy was fast, too fast for him to cast a spell at him. It then came to the dark wizard. The boy was fast, and he mentioned that he always protected the weak. An evil smile krept onto his shadowed face. Yes, that would be the insolent child's downfall. He looked up and saw a gathered crowd that was curious as to what was going on. His eyes focused on a short-haired, tomboyish girl. The one he saw the boy argue with. Perfect.

"You tired out already, ya crazed fool?" Ranma taunted from his position behind the downed wizard. The aquatransexual martial artist tensed as Voldemort stood. The dark wizard gave off a cruel laugh at the question as he to face the boy. The glow in his eyes sending shivers up Ranma's spine.

"I don't think so boy. I, the great Dark Lord, would never bow down to a filthy muggle. The beginning of the end is near for you. Avada..." Voldemort said backing a few steps back, leaving Ranma to tense in preparation for the attack. His face paled when the wizard turned around to the assembled crowd. "KADAVA!!!" He shouted sending the killing curse towards a certain girl.

Ranma didn't know what the curse did, but he couldn't care less at the moment. All he could think about was protecting. Protecting Akane from the blast. As if he was being chased by hellhounds, the pigtailed martial artist wasted no time getting in front of Akane. He could have picked her up and jumped out of the way, but there was people behind and around her who could get hit. As the blast hit him, he heard a scream of 'RANMA!' from Akane, and high pitched laugh. Then, everything became green, and then black.

ooooooooooooo

Akane could only stare in shock as the green energy was coming at her. Her shock turned into horror when Ranma jumped right in front of her to block it. She gave off a loud scream when her fiancé was hit, and almost instantly fell backwards...lifelessly. Akane's horror turned to fury as the figure wearing a cloak started giving off a high pitched laugh. Narrowing her eyes, the short-tempered tomboy rushed towards the man with her mallet raised. Ignoring the shouts from the other students telling her to stop. Nearing the dark wizard, she was suddenly hit with a bit of magic paralyzing her in place.

"You aren't even worth my time muggle. I only came for the boy. Now that he's out of the way. There is no one to stand in the way of me, Voldemort. NYAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The evil wizard said vanishing in a loud bang.

ooooooooooooo

"Gah, what happened?" Ranma asked opening his eyes. The first thing he saw was that he was floating above the ground, and witnessing people surrounding his body. "Wha? Does this mean I'm dead?" The pigtailed Saotome asked himself in wonderment.

"Bingo Ranma." A voice stated bubbly behind him. Turning around, the raven-haired youth sweat-dropped at the site of a Blue haired girl wearing a pink kimono and riding an oar. "Oh, I should introduce myself. I'm Botan. Travel guide to those that have died." She said cheerfully as Ranma scratched his head.

"So uhh, you're death? I thought death wore a black robe." The girl gave him a shrug.

"The black robe didn't suit me. I kept tripping over the bottom. Anyway, please grab on to the oar as we travel to the other side. I do wonder though. You are taking this better than most." the pony-tailed girl said as Ranma got on the oar and shrugged.

"With all the enemies, death threats, and Akane's cooking, I kind of figured it would only be just a matter of time. I just tried like hell to delay it. It's also not as bad as I thought it would be. I just wish I could get back at that bastard." The late Saotome said wistfully as the two took off.

ooooooooooooo

"Never knew the afterlife was run by oni." Ranma said in amazement as he and Botan walked through the office like area towards a pair of large double doors. One of the rushing ogres spilt his water onto Ranma causing him to transform. "The hell? Even as a spirit I have the curse? Is this some joke of the kami?" Looking at Botan, the reaper of souls could only shrug and mentioned that the Jusenkyo curse lingers with the spirit until it rests, or is reborn. Hence the 'curse' aspect. She then motion for Ranma to hurry up.

"I'm not sure why, but Koenma told me to bring you to him when you died. He's just past these doors." Botan said as the large doors opened up on their own reveling a large office room. Looking around, Ranma saw a blue ogre standing next to the large oak desk. The chair behind the desk had it's back facing them. The red-head could only wonder what imposing figure this Koenma must be. "I have brought Ranma. Koenma-san." Botan said bowing a bit. The chair swiveled around, and Ranma caught her first glimpse at the mighty Koenma...

...and face faulted at the sight of a little child sucking on a pacifier. "Greetings Ranma. I welcome you to...why are you on the ground?" The son of King Yenma asked in a bit of confusion. Ranma stood back up and looked at Koenma nervously.

"Well, you see. I didn't expect you to be a child. I thought you would look...older, and more intimidating." She said scratching the back of her head. Koenma looked at her with a glint in his eyes and asked if she also thought he was a weak little kid. Ranma threw her hands forward in a warding gesture.

"NO! You don't look it, but I bet you are very strong. It just surprised me, that's all." Koenma could only laugh at the antics of this late teen. The laughing stopped as Ranma's face became beet red.

"Relax Ranma. I have brought you here because of your accomplishments. I figured that you could help in keeping order here in the spirit world. We already have someone to mostly protect the human world, but it would be great to have a person to keep order here. What I'm going to ask you is..." The blue-hated kid couldn't finish what he was going to say as his glass of water on the desk started to vibrate. A light exited out of the glass, and a figure popped out and onto her feet on the floor. Koenma's eyes widened in surprise, "Goddess Skuld! What brings you here to the Spirit World?" Koenma asked bowing low, causing Skuld to giggle.

"I'm here for Ranma." The younger of the three Norse sisters said pointing to the aquatransexual. The red-head of discussion just blinked looking at the apparently 13-year-old girl with raven hair and odd face tattoos. Wondering what a goddess would want with her. One look at the mallet on the back of the raven-haired goddess gave Ranma the incentive to be cautious of his foot-in-mouth syndrome.

"What for?" Ranma asked warily. The girl may have been a goddess, but being a goddess meant she was magical, and magic has never been on Ranma's good side. The young goddess smiled.

"You want to get back at the man who killed you, right?" At Ranma's nod, she continued. "There's a prophesy. The text consists of two parts, but only the first part was revealed to the wizarding mortals. The second part, which concerns you, hasn't been brought to light to them yet." Skuld brought out a scroll from thin air and began to read from it.

"Killed by the Dark Lord out of fear, the Chaotic Nexus known as the Wild Horse shall be reborn. knowledge of the previous two incarnations. The Horse shall befriend the boy who face the Dark Lord and lived. Together, the two shall gain the power to defeat the vile dark being once and for all, or die trying. Only they can save the world from this evil plague." Skuld finished reading the scroll and let it disappear. "So, ready to be reborn?" She asked smiling.

The former Saotome gave a small frown, "I dunno. I would like to get back at that bastard, but I'd be messin' around with magic. Magic has never been on my good side." She said scratching the back of her head. Although, that was no use when Skuld unleashed her technique to cause Ranma to cave in. The dreaded puppy dog look.

"Pwease Ranma. You don't want a lot of people to die do you? Isn't it a martial artist's duty to protect those who can't? Are you going to chicken out, just like your father would do?" Ranma's eyes blazed in fury as she moved to just a few inches from the goddess.

"I am NOTHING like that fat bastard, and within the best of my abilities, I will not allow anymore innocents to be killed. I ACCEPT!!" She said standing straight with her fist raised in front of her. Skuld smiled joyously and held out her hand.

"Come Ranma. I'm to take you to the gates that will send you to your new life. You won't regret it." Ranma grabbed a hold of the goddess of the future's hand, and in a flash of light, both were gone. Leaving Botan and Koenma to just stare at the spot. The reaper of souls looked at the dimunitive boy.

"Well, that was quite interesting." Botan said with a sweat-drop.

"Yes, yes it was Botan. Hopefully it dawns on Skuld about Ranma's curse before they get to the Pedestal of Rebirth. Ranma seemed too excited to mention it until he's well into the gate." The 700-year-old child said with a sigh. The pony-tailed girl looked at him with wide eyes.

"You don't mean..." At Koenma's nod, the reaper said the only thing suitable for situations like this. "Oh my."

oooooooooooooo

"Well, here we are Ranma. The gate of rebirth. I fed the info about your rebirth into the gate, so all you have to do is step right in and onto the pedestal." Skuld said pointing at the mentioned place. Ranma gave a silent nod and warily stepped through the gate and onto the pedestal. Almost instantly, light shown around him, and held him in place. A thought suddenly occurred to him.

"Oh, Skuld. What about my curse?" The raven-haired goddess looked at him in confusion. "My Jusenkyo curse. The curse where I turn into a girl with cold water. Will that be cured once I'm reborn?" Skuld's face suddenly turned a delightful shade of pearl white, causing Ranma to dread.

"J...Jusenkyo? Oh...oh dear. I forgot about that. Usually the gate of rebirth would remove a curse, and it would remove a Jusenkyo curse as well, but not always the birth form the form that enters the chamber becomes the reborn form. I...it looks like you're going to be reborn as a girl." After saying this, Ranma tried to get off of the pedestal, but was held tight.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?!" Ranma shouted at the short goddess. She may have gotten used to her curse, but she did not want to forever be trapped as a girl.

"I...I forgot about it. I was in such a hurry to finish the mission that it slipped my mind. I'm so sorry." She said bowing her apology over and over. Just before Ranma vanished, she muttered something that sounded like 'I'm just a freakin' plaything of the gods'.

oooooooooooooo

"Ranma's...dead?" Nodoka asked in disbelief. Earlier she felt a sense of dread. A sense that someone suffered a death or something. She then rushed to the Tendo's, hoping that the feeling was false. When she got there, the only person she found was Nabiki. The Ice Queen looked like she was about ready to break down. When she asked the Tendo Girl what was wrong, the news made her fall onto her knees.

"Everyone's at the Hospital. They took Ranma there to try and revive him, but no luck. From what Akane told us, Ranma was fighting some cloaked wizard or something. Ranma seemed to have the upper hand, but then the guy sent some sort of spell flying at the gathered crowd. The exact part being Akane. Ranma jumped in front of the blast, protecting my sister, but the thing killed him almost instantly. No bruises, scratches, broken bones, blood loss. It was as if he was just stopped." Nabiki said as tears started forming in her eyes. She thought of the Saotome boy as a younger brother. She may have used him as a money source, but she still considered family. She finally broke down and enveloped by a comforting hug from the Saotome matriarch.

oooooooooooooo

"Why'd you have to do it, you idiot." Akane said crying next to Ryoga. After the incident at the school, the ambulance was called and instantly took the body of Ranma Saotome to the hospital in hopes of reviving. It was, however, to no avail. At the news of what happened spread, the ones known by the nickname of the Nerima Wrecking Crew quickly rushed to the hospital, except for the Kuno family. They were too busy in their own little world. Ryoga was lost, so he never heard the news, but when he ended up falling out of the hospital closet, he learned of the death of his sometimes friend, sometimes rival.

"He...he's dead?" Ryoga said in shock. Sure, he's told Ranma to die plenty of times. He's also attacked his rival on many a occasion, but he never TRUELY wanted to kill him.

The amazons arrived, leading to Shampoo breaking down and weeping over the death of her 'Airen'. Mousse seemed to be both overjoyed and depressed at the same time. On one hand, Saotome was finally out of his way. On the other hand, Shampoo was miserable. Leading him to curse Ranma, and to be splashed by water carried by Cologne. The aged matriarch turned towards the door, which on the other side lay Ranma's body on the hospital bed. She then whispered a few words and gave a bow of great respect. Usually males in the amazon village wouldn't be held in high regard, but there lay the one who defeated both the phoenix god and dragon prince. The boy would have made one of the greatest amazons in his female form.

Konatsu comforted Ukyo as she cried on the male kunoichi's shoulder. Soun Tendo, as weird as it seemed, wasn't a human waterworks for once. No, he just sat rigid in his seat. The death of another person close to him giving him a bit of a wake-up call. Next to him was something equally strange. Genma Saotome for once was not blaming his son for being weak. He was actually crying purely for his son.

Perhaps the strangest thing of all was the way Happosai was acting. Once learning of the event, the aged pervert paled a bit. "Curse that wretched Voldemort. Though I guess it was fate." He mumbled to himself. Too bad a certain old ghou...err, old woman heard him. Walking over to Happosai, Cologne whispered to him.

"What do you know of this, Happy?" She asked forcefully. The aged anything goes master tried to deny anything, but one look at the glare he was receiving made him reconsider. After all, amazon matriarchs are a bit persistent when there's something they want..

"Ok, I'll tell you, but none of it is to be told to anyone else in this room. Understand?" At her nod, he continued. "Back when I was but an innocent youth." Cologne stifled a snort, "I came a cross a young seer. One who's prophesies were accurate to a T. That night, while looking for 'souvenirs', I came a cross a lone scroll. It was one of the things I...collected along with my silky darlings. On it was a prophesy, Since it told of things that would happen over 200 years from then, it held no importance to me. It was then that the seer caught me in the process. She tried to catch me, but I was too fast for her. I ended up with the scroll though." Happosai said with a chuckle.

"Ok, so what does this have to do with someone named Voldemort?" The amazon matriarch asked rolling her eyes at Happy's story. The perverted master suddenly looked a little grim.

"In my youth, I studied magic. Don't look at me like that Cologne. How else could I keep my good looks?" He said with a chuckle. "A few years back, a wizard of such darkness rose to power. I kind of joined his group of evil followers." He received another look, "Hey now, they forced me in, since I'm so good at magic. Using one of the three forbidden curses. One that causes the victim such pain. It didn't help that I was still disoriented from escaping that cave. After a while, I was able to get away. That's when I found my way to Nirima, and started living in the Tendo Dojo. I also learned that the one spoken of in the prophesy is Ranma. True, he's dead, but even as we speak, the boy is being reborn into a new life. One of these years, he will most likely return to Nirima. Hooboy, I hope I'm still alive by then. I want to see the look on these youngins' faces when he shows up." Happosai said as he turned on his heals and leaped out of the room.

Cologne just shook her head and chuckled, "Every time I think Ranma can't surprise me, the gods themselves pull something new. I wish you luck in your new life Ranma Saotome. May you become the strong male you are destined to be." The white-haired elder suddenly felt as if someone was laughing at what she said, but she didn't know what was so funny.

oooooooooooooo

Lucius Malfoy yawned as he sat on a flimsy chair in the waiting room. His long blond hair was messy, and he had bags under his eyes. Something that can happen when your wife is going into labor in the middle of the night, and waking you from a lovely sleep. He cursed loudly at being awake so late at night just because his wife couldn't wait until morning to go into labor. He didn't care if the child was a boy or girl. Just so long as he could mold his child into a proper Malfoy. A proper Malfoy...one who is aware of their pure blood heritage. Proud of it, and understand that half breeds and mudbloods are inferior. He was brought out of his musings when the door to the delivery room was opened, and allowed him to come in.

Narcissa smiled at her husband as he came in. In her hands, she was holding her bundles of joy. She motioned for Lucius to come closer to get a better look at their children. The new father glanced at the children, surprised that the outcome was twins. A boy and a girl. The boy looked quite a bit like himself. He had tufts of blond hair, and his eyes were black.

Looking at his daughter, Lucius thought it odd to see red hair. The blue eyes were easy to understand, since his wife had blue. Yet they had specks of red mixed in. The only time he ever saw the hair color of that particular shade of red was the portrait of one of Narcissa's ancestor. "Narcissa, her hair color looks so much like your ancestor. The one in the portrait we put in the babies' room.

His wife gave him a nod, "I noticed that when I first laid my eyes on her hair. I think Lina would be a lovely name for her. Lina Inverse wielded such powerful magic. Maybe our daughter will be great someday." Narcissa said with stars in her eyes. Lucius sweat-dropped and just shook his head. Sometimes his wife could be a bit weird.

"As we agreed upon, our son's name shall be Draco. Right dear?" The blond man asked. He thought the name would be a name that would strike fear into the hearts of half-breed wizards. His wife nodded and smiled at him.

Unbeknownst to anyone in the room, the baby named Lina actually had a mind a 'bit' more developed than most babies. Looking around, she had a look of dismay on her face. (Not only am I a girl, but I'm also a weak baby. I can't even move my muscles properly. My ki reserves are the same, but I have no strength. If all my strength is gone, then what? How am I going to get where I was just a few hours ago. Am I going to have to spend 17 more freakin years of training?) Thought Ranma angrily. Looking towards the window, she could have sword she saw something standing on the tree outside. (Must have been my imagination.).

ooooooooooooo

A couple days later, the Malfoys were able to bring their newly born twins home. Both babies were asleep, something Ranma loved about becoming a baby. Sleep without interruption. No random attacks, no buckets of water, and no sudden sparring sessions. Although she had to convince her mom on no breast feeding.

Narcissa decided to let the children get used to their baby room. Sitting them down gently in the crib, a voice spoke behind her. "They're so cute, Narcissa." The woman turned around and looked at the painting of a girl who looked to be physically around 17. Her red eyes looked to be far older, yet had the sparkle of a child. Her reddish-orange hair flowed to the middle of her back, and her outfit seemed like an outfit of a very olden style.

The new mom smiled at the painting, "Yes Lina, they are beautiful. My daughter has your hair color. A hair color that hasn't been seen since yours, so I thought it fitting that she has the name Lina. It would be interesting if she held the power of sorcery." The blond woman said stroking her sleeping children's hair. The painting of Lina Inverse gave a nod.

"Sorcery is such a long lost art of magic. It's kind of sad that it died out so long ago. I would love to see her manage it. I just hope she doesn't gain the slight snobbish trait of the Malfoys." Lina said giving off a laugh. Narcissa sweat-dropped.

"We aren't THAT bad Lina. Well maybe I'm a little snobbish, but I'm not as bad as my husband. I still love him though." The new mom turned and walked to the door. "I'll let them sleep. Let me know when they wake up Lina." The wife of Lucius said as she closed the door behind her.

"An interesting development this is." A voice at the window said. Lina's eyes widened when she saw a person she hadn't seen in so long. His purple hair was cut in a bob-cut style. His eyes were nearly closed, giving him a mischievous look. His clothes looked old, and his wooden staff was held straight in his hand.

"Xellos!? Still alive I see. What are you doing here?" Lina asked with a frown upon her face. 10,000 years and he appears today. Whatever the reason, the painted former sorceress knew it couldn't be good. The mazouku smiled at her.

"It's good to see you too, Lina. I've come to see baby Lina. She's destined for great things you know." Xellos said glancing into the crib at the sleeping reborn infant. "She does look a little like you, but I've seen her eyes. Blue eyes with specks of red. An interesting combo" The trickster said smiling mischievously.

"What are you talking about? Don't you dare touch her, you hear me? I'll tell her parents." Growled Lina with her eyes narrowed. It would just be like him to take the baby and mold her into a likeness of himself. The girl in the painting imagined someone of her likeness in those clothing and shivered. Not something that sounds pleasing at all.

"Don't worry your painted little head. I'm not going to take her...yet. Her destiny is a big one. Bigger than the so-called Boy Who Lived's destiny. She'll need to be properly trained to stand up to the things she faces. That is a job I decided to take up." Said the mazouku priest as if he were noble. Lina's face gained a large frown on it.

"I know you have some ulterior motive Xellos. You've never did things out of the kindness of your heart, being a mazouku and all." The former sorceress said crossing her arms and glaring at him.

"Why Lina, you wound me. Just because I'm training her to fight great evil doesn't mean I have any evil motives. Well, there is the chaos that insues, and the depression, and the anger." Said Xellos with his usual smile. Lina just rolled her eyes. "I must be going, but I will come for her when she hits two-years-old. Be sure to tell her that when she wakes up. She may be a baby in body, but she's not a baby in mind." He said chuckling and vanished.

The older woman gave off a sigh and looked in the crib, "What are you getting into young one? Fate and Destiny can be a kick in the rear." It was then that she noticed baby Lina's eyes open.

AN

Revising the chapters to make them flow a little better. I think I'm satisfied with how the revision is coming along.


	2. Growing up again Whoopydoo

Wild Magic

Ranma, Slayers, and other series I use are owned by there respective owners

"Speech"

(Thoughts)

"Ah crapnuts." Ranma said looking at the marbles scattered on the floor of her bedroom. It has been two years since the former Saotome was reborn. Only to discover that all the abilities she had in her previous life were thrown out the window, even though she knew the skills and could feel her ki. She just couldn't access it. The dual eye colored child was a bit angered at that little revelation, but was also happy at the possibility of re-training herself. Maybe this time without all of the crap that happened to her during the training with her former father. Maybe even somehow find a way to turn back into a boy. The painting of Lina told her that a man named Xellos would be by when she hit two-years-old to take her on a training trip. At least this Xellos couldn't be as bad as her former father...could he?

"I still don't see how tossing marbles into the air could help you in training." The painting of the red-eyed sorceress said giving off a small yawn. Lina learned long ago that the reborn child's training was quite amusing. It was a wonder why her current parents didn't send her to St. Mungo's Hospital to check and see if she was a bit on the insane side.

The first incident happened when Ranma first began to walk around properly. She would climb up on anything that was a few feet from the ground. Then she'd jump off and land flat on the ground. Many times she did this, until Narcissa picked her up by the arm and demanded to know why she was doing that. The child gave her a simple answer, 'Fall training'.

Then there was the whole thing with her trying herself to a tree while bees were attacking her. By the time her parents were done with her, she was covered from head to toe in bandages. Looking quite like a mummy. Lucius ordered an explanation. Ranma looked at him and simply said 'pain resistance training'. The numerous stories both house elves and paintings could tell.

"Hand speed. Since my parents forbade me from trying to grab chestnuts out of an open fire again. I don't see why I can't. It's not like it'll kill me." She said picking the marbles up with her bandaged hands. "At least I'm not tossing myself into a pit of starving cats." She said shivering at that last bit, still retaining her fear of cats.

Lina just shook her head. Still wondering how the child could be sane, well relatively sane, after all the crap that's happened. "You're aware that today is your second birthday, right?" The former short tempered sorceress said changing the subject. The now two-year-old gave a small frown.

"How could I forget. I just hope it's not like last year. There were too many gifts. What child could possibly need so much crap?" Said Ranma.

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Over in a quiet, normal neighborhood, a child, who was a bit overweight, gave off a sneeze.

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"The fact that someone is finally going to train me makes up for it. You said that this Xellos person is quite good, right?" The reborn child said tilting her head. Wondering how exactly to word 'good', the deceased sorceress reluctantly nodded.

"If you mean good at his abilities, then yes. I once saw him destroy a whole army of flying demons with just a wave of his finger. Now, if you mean good in his personality. Well, he's a 'bit' strange, and mostly only does things that will suit his own needs." Ranma's eye twitched. Wondering what exactly 'a bit strange' ment. He couldn't be as strange as most of the people she'd met, could he?

"What would training me do to suit his needs?"

"Well, he absorbs chaos and negative feelings. Since he's actually a demon and lives off of negative emotions. Positive emotions kind of give him a queazy feeling." Ranma frowned a bit at the info that Xellos was a demon. She had her fair share of demons in her old life, as well as long long ago as Lina. The two-year-old violently shook her head.

"No...just no. I refuse to believe I was ever a short tempered, flat chested, psycho chick in a past life." She mumbled to herself, unaware that Lina's painting was glaring at her. "Hell, I hope there's no backlash to all this past life crap. There's also no way I'll be known as a bandit killer, spooker of dragons, or enemy of all who live..." Ranma said trailing off. Lina just rolled her eyes.

"It was either that or be killed. Besides, it's not my fault those villages were in the way of my magic. Who would have thought that casting a highly powerful and dangerous skill on a large dragon rampaging through a small village would destroy the little place as well?" The question itself earned a sweat drop from the younger redhead.

"Seriously, I think I'll be better off NOT knowin' anymore of YOUR life Lina. Probably safer for humanity that way. I already attract chaos. Don't need it doubled." Ranma ignored the indignant 'Hey!' from the painting and continued with the marbles. She was about to toss them again when the bedroom door opened to reveal a short house-elf. Dressed in folded paper. Ranma hated the thought of them wearing next to nothing, and being enslaved. Some seemed happy to work, while others acted, when not in the presence of their masters, as if it was torture. Yet couldn't do anything against the word.

Remembering the time the former boy accidently gave a cloth to a house elf, she winced. How was she to know that the elf would be freed, and that Lucious would get so pissed off. Didn't need to spank THAT hard. Ranma was brought out of her musings by the elf talking, "Miss Lina is wanted down stairs." the elf said in a small voice. Her face brightened when Ranma smiled. There was just something about the young girl that made the elves feel warm. Possibly the child being the only one in the family to treat them like normal people.

"Thanks Fleshia. I'll be down." The redhead said kindly to the retreating servant. She then looked towards the painting of the sorceress, "Well, time to see if they decided to drown us is dang gifts, or if they got smart and did only a few. Ah heck, who am I kidding? I'm more interested in cake." Ranma mumbled as she walked out the door, wondering what kind of cake it might be.

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As Ranma headed downstairs, her hearing picked up the voices of her new parents talking to someone who's voice sounded vaguely familiar, (Why does that voice sound familiar?) The young sorceress-to-be asked herself as she looked around the corner. Sitting across from the Malfoys was a man with near shoulder-length purple hair, clothing that looked right out of fantasy, a long staff with a red jewel on the tip, and his face held a mischievous smile which was enhanced by his closed eyes.

The young red-head was certain this man was Xellos, she didn't know how, but she did. It was then that the Malfoy patriarch glanced in her direction and saw her head peeking in, "Ah, daughter. Come in and meet a man that will make you great." He said in a voice that held both a strange anticipation and coldness. "This... gentleman here appeared and informed me that you hold the magic potential that most in the world now-a-days lack. A potential that could make the Malfoy name even more... widely known." He said with a maniacal gleam in his eyes.

Ranma had to frown. It wasn't that she 'hated' the guy who happened to be her father in this carnation. He didn't steal her food, wasn't an idiot who thought with his stomach, didn't throw her into a pit of starving cats, and other such things that her previous father did that could line a police report almost a mile wide. He was just... cold, power hungry, stuck up, uncaring of non-magical people and 'half-breeds', secretly in cahoots with dark wizards, a secret supporter of the bastard she swore she would get back at...

(Hell, do all fathers have bad traits, or am I just 'lucky'?) The former boy thought in disgust as she walked into the room, getting a slight chill as the mysterious man smiled at her. A kind of smile that promised her that she would be wishing she was under the covers fast asleep after today'. It was then that her new mother cleared her throat.

"Honey, this man is named Xellos. He appeared a few minutes ago and informed us that he was well acquainted with Lina Inverse. I didn't believe it at first, seeing as how that was so long ago, and someone that knew her couldn't still be alive. That was until he told tales of things that only us descendants of Lina have written documents of. He informed us that you have the potential to be equal, if not greater, than Lina herself." Narcissa finished with stars in her eyes.

(You don't know the half of it...) Ranma thought to herself as she looked at the strange man with the purple hair. "So what are-"

"It's good to meet you Lina!" The man said happily as he just sat there, looking as if he was enjoying some private joke. "What your parents said is correct. You have the potential inside of you. This is why your parents agreed with me when I said it would benefit the most if I took and trained you by myself. A... training trip if you would call it. How does that sound?" if it was possible, Xellos's mischievous smile grew larger at the sudden feeling of discomfort he felt coming from the young 'girl'.

The reincarnated sorceress/martial artist suddenly felt a shiver run down her spine. A sense of foreboding now grasped at her at the thought of going on another long training trip. Especially with a demon. She was about to speak when her father interrupted, "It sounds great! Just think of it Lina. A chance to rise up, to get powerful enough to shape it all in the palm of your hands. To finally get one step closer to crush all the insufferable mudbloods and make magic pure again. To take revenge on those who stood up against 'HIM'. You shall do this! For if you don't, you will be severely punished!" Lucious said. His eyes blazing and his finger pointing at Ranma.

The child sighed and rubbed her forehead. The chaos was already starting and she was only TWO. the Chaos didn't start in her last life until she was at least five. (Double the chaos indeed. Maybe I should have acted like a normal child instead of getting the hang of walking and talking again so soon. Ah well, at least it'll allow me to get back to the level I was before I died, figure out this whole magic thing, learn new techniques... wait, new techniques and skills!!!) Ranma thought as her eyes suddenly widened in glee. Turning to the mazouku, she asked excitedly.

"You can teach me new skills, techniques, abilities, and help me get better at mar--"

"That is correct Lina. In fact, I have scrolls of over thousands of years old detailing skills of both magic and fighting. Old and forgotten, lost in time." The trickster said as he watched the reborn get all excited. (This should prove quite fun. Just what kind of adventure shall this become, and just how much chaos will you cause?)

"So when can we leave?! I want to get started already!" Ranma said impatiently jumping up and down like crazy. She may have the mind of teenager, and more when/if remembers her life as Lina, but because of her child-like state she's prone to childish excitement. Her jumping stopped as a small blur wrapped its arms around her.

"Wina, you can't weave, I'll miss 'ou!" The redhead looked at the tiny invader and saw it was her current twin brother, Draco. Looking at her with tears threatening to flow. Ranma had to let a small smile escape. The blonde had a pretty strong grip, and probably would've made a good martial artist... if Lucious hadn't forbid her from doing the 'crazy and weird foolery' that she did with him. Her only hope is that the little boy didn't end up like the so called father. Waste of talent, that's what it was.

"Come on Draco, your crushing me!" The young boy shook his head as tears flowed. Ranma sighed, but suddenly smiled, "Say Drac, if you let go of me, you can open my presents as well. You'd probably not like some of them, but still..." The blonde's eyes opened wide. He saw the wrapped presents, and opening both of them combined would be a lot of opening, and he loved opening things. Letting go, the boy gave a small smile and wiped his eyes. "There we go. You'll see me again, I promise!"

Turning towards the mazouku priest, the martial artist/sorcerous to be raised her fist in the ear, shouted an excited 'Let's go!', and started heading for the door. "Lina wait!" Ranma turned to look at her mother, "You can't just leave in your pajamas. You need clothing to take with you." Grabbing the girl's hand, Narcissa ran upstairs to get her changed. At the protest of the former cursed individual saying she could dress herself.

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"She sure does have an... interesting taste in clothing, Ranma." Commented Xellos as he looked at the outfit the young girl next to him was wearing as they walked along. He had to shiver and the disturbingly cute outfit.

"Oh shut up. You'd never guess she'd have a thing for cute, not with the stuck up outer appearance. As soon as I get the chance, I'm burning it." Snarled the girl. The offending outfit consisted of a frilly light green blouse and skirt combo with a unicorn design on both parts, leggings, and black slip on shoes. Her hair was done in twin ponytails. "I'm a guy damnit"

"Not anymore you're not"

"Whatever. I'll find a way to turn back into a guy someday." Ranma stated trudging along. Her traveling partner gave off a little chuckle.

"Why's that? You make such a cute girl. The men will probably be flocking all over you when you're older. Why I bet you'd be able to settle down with a nice maACK!" Xellos ended as the girl he was teasing jumped onto his shoulders and pulled his cheeks. A snarl escaped the redhead's mouth.

"Say anything like that again and I'll bring you a world of pain!" She finished as she hopped down as the purple-haired demon rubbed his cheeks, and missed the little smirk that appeared on his face.

(Oh yeah, this is going to be so fun.) Thought Xellos as he looked back at his young charge, "Say Ranma, have you practiced calling upon your magic yet? I think it would be best to work on that for now, and then work on your martial arts later." He saw the slight shake of her head.

"I think I can feel it though. Feels different than my ki. I've tried to use it, but it just won't come out." Said the redhead with a bit of frustration. Closing her eyes, she attempted to mold and force the strange energy. It started to build up, but dissipated just as quickly. The reborn two-year-old cursed under her breath. She then noticed Xellos stroking his chin in contemplation before that annoying as hell smile returned to his features.

"I see. You're trying to FORCE it out like you do with your ki. Which until properly trained, requires the use of force to mold into an attack. As for manga, try to calmly gather the energy throughout your body." The Mazouku priest finished as he watched the blank stare the young redhead sent his way before her eyes lit up in realization.

Standing straight and relaxed with arms to her side, Ranma closed her eyes and concentrated on gathering the energy through herself. The energy felt warm and comforting as it bathed her. A light breeze was felt whipping around her, and something began to feel a-miss when her feet felt like they weren't anchored anymore. Quickly opening her eyes, Ranma looked down to see that she was floating a few feet from the ground, "I DID IT!!! Wow, I'm flying... no... levitating. Well, close enough. This is so cool!!!" She said in childish glee as she managed to will herself to move around a bit before crash landing onto her butt. Jumping to her feet, the excited youth ran up to her companion, "What other spells can I learn Sensei?" she asked deciding to take the man as a serious teacher.

Wagging a gloved finger, the man receiving the attention smiled, "Now that, for now, is a secret." The phrase sent a mysterious ping of anger through Ranma's brain for some reason, but mentally dismissed it as she turned back to the task at hand. Trying to get this guy to teach her. She then had an idea that was sure to work.

"Please Xellos-sensei. You're supposed to be training me. How can you do that if you don't teach?" The two-year-old asked using something her two-year-old body was quite superb at. The dreaded 'cute puppy dog eyes attack of doom'. Xellos's face turned a lovely shade of green, as if he was going to get sick. Dismissing himself, he walked over into the bushes. All that was heard was a heaving sound before he came back.

"Alright, I'll tell you! Just stop and NEVER do that LOOK to me again! Things like that... do not settle well with me." He finished, not liking the mischievous gleam that suddenly came to the young girl's eyes. Possibly filing it away for future use. Well... just as long as she didn't go off spouting speeches about love and justice. He was about to continue when a shout pierced the air.

"WHERE ON EARTH AM I NOW!?!" Came the cry of anguish a little ways into the forest. Ranma, wide-eyed, took off running. A few seconds later, she came to a stop and saw a person she hadn't seen in two years. He looked much the same, but older, weary, and, if possibly, even more depressed than ever. Walking over, the young sorceress-in-training decided to not know him and switched to Japanese.

"What's wrong mister?" She asked as innocently as she could. Ryoga looked down at her, and was a bit surprised that she was so young, but dismissed it as he's 'seen odder things'. Sighing, he sat down in front of a tree.

"Everything's wrong. It started two years ago after a friend of mine who I considered a rival was killed. Everything that day changed. Lives changed. Everyone he knew showed up for his funeral, even ones who could be considered enemies. They may have been his enemies, but they held a great deal of respect for his skill. Damnit, I should have been there. I could have helped. Oh who am I kidding, I can't even help Akane." He sighed offhandedly. Ranma's eyes widened at the last part and gained a hard edge to them.

"What happened to this Akane?"

"His death hit her the hardest. Well, his mom too, but it hasn't ate at her like Akane. She was right there when he died. He pushed her out of the way, and took the blast to save the people behind. She was in love with him, but didn't admit it. She had a nervous breakdown and hasn't really left her house since. Eats just enough to survive, but her grief is eating her away. I tried to help, but couldn't do a thing." The lost boy finished, tears flowing freely. Ranma let off a low growl.

"Well it doesn't sound like you tried hard enough, P-chan!" She said, unable to control herself.

"How would you... wait, what did you call me?" The cursed boy asked bewildered. He then got a good look at the girl's features. Red hair and blue eyes. Even though the eyes had specks of red, and the blue flashed red for a few seconds. Sitting there for a few seconds, he let a snarl loose and grabbed the pony-tailed girl by the collar. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE RANMA?! You shouldn't even be alive. Is this some kind of trick? Are you enjoying the pain you've caused everyone? I outta..."

"Hit a two-year-old girl who's abilities are a little less than half of what they were before she died and was reborn?" The girl deadpanned. The lost boy halted at that as his thoughts processed what she just said. The clenched hand released the redhead's shirt.

"Reborn?"

"Yeah, part of some stupid prophesy or something. Apparently I was supposed to die at the hands of that bastard, and then be reborn to help someone defeat him." She gave a wry smile, "Apparently the Jusenkyou curses stay with the sprit upon death until they are laid to rest or are reborn. Just my luck to be in my girl form on the return trip. Dang goddess. I have a few choice words for her on the next time we meet. Nothing physical, just a piece of my mind" Grumbled out the small child.

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Somewhere unreachable by most mortals, a young goddess shivered as a chill went up her spine. "I should really make it up to Ranma if we meet again. I know! I'll treat her to ice cream!" Skuld said happily as she continued de-bugging.

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"Not too big of a piece I hope. I don't think you have enough. Ryoga chuckled out, Feeling a little bit better. His face soon fell though, Although that still leaves Akane. Can't leave her like that." The raven-haired boy said rubbing his forehead.

"Perhaps I could be of assistance." Both old friends turned around to see Xellos stepping out of the shadows. As much as he hated to end the little depression fest, he felt he should do SOMETHING. Otherwise Ranma would somehow think he could help and do that evil technique again. I believe Ranma should go and talk with Akane. A little catching up and all. Before the two could question anything, he grabbed them by the shirts and vanished.

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A slight shimmer appeared on a particular street in Nerima. The shimmer then became three people. One a purple-haired man with a disturbingly happy expression, a short black-haired boy with a bandana and heavy backpack, and finally a two-year-old with twin pony-tails and sickenly cute outfit (I really need to get out of this outfit soon) the red-head thought looking down at her clothing and trying to get the distortion feeling out of her mind.

"Here we are! Tendo Dojo of Nerima. Now you can go talk to Akane. Get some practice with your levitation spell while you're at it too." The joyous Mazouku cheered as he tossed Ranma over the wall. Hearing the cursing of the individual on the other side.

"Damnit, he didn't need to throw me over the wall. I could have just used the gate." Ranma said as she got up and dusted herself off and started to head the way to Akane's bedroom window, "Now I just... need... to..." She came to a stop as she looked at the site in front of her. Hanging up laundry were her former mom and Kasumi. Sadness entered her eyes upon seeing two of the people she missed dearly over the last two years. Not really wanting to face them, the two-year-old backed up, but accidentally stepped on a tree branch.

The two woman looked in her direction after hearing a snap. Seeing a small two-year-old, who seemed petrified for some reason, they decided to see what they could do to help. "Are you ok dear?" Nodoka asked in concern. The young girl girl looked so familiar somehow. The hair and eyes looked so much like her late son's girl form. For a split second, the thought of the child somehow being Ranma's crossed her mind. That thought was squelched as the Saotome matriarch continued to study the young child's and noticed the odd reaction of such things as fear, sadness, recognition, and a small bit of others. As odd as the thought was, Nodoka decided to take a small shot in the dark. "R... Ranma?" She asked. Her words caused Kasumi to stare, eyes wide, at the young girl, then to the older redhead, and finally back to the child. Her hand immediately went to her mouth when the child's expression turned to one of shock, and the eyes looked towards the ground in sadness.

The reborn martial artist/sorceress knew the jig was up. She should have been more careful. "Yeah... I was reborn right after I died. I... came to try and help Akane. I heard she wasn't doing well these past two years. It's only right that I try and help her get over her depression. Came just to see Aka..." She didn't get to finish as Nodoka flung her arms around her and began to weep.

"My baby's come back to me! I'm so sorry for how I treated you Ranma. I was blinded by my own delusions. After you died, I realized just how much I added to your problems." She finished between sobs. True enough, the older woman reflected back upon her actions, and in-actions, that she did around Ranma life soon after his passing. It was a real eye opener. Many times she found herself crying to sleep, wishing she just had a second chance. To not make the same mistakes twice. The embraced child in her arms proved that miracles DO happen. Although one question weighed heavily on her mind. Pulling back, she looked into the blue with red specked eyes, "Although I am curious as to why you are now a girl."

Ranma gave a sad smile. Dangit, she didn't want to stay too long, otherwise she wouldn't want to leave. Her mom would be terribly heartbroken, "Curse lingers on after death until the spirit rests or is reborn. Lucky me to be in girl form at the time I was sent back." She said bitterly. "Um... mom. I really just came to snap the tomboy out of her depression and then head off. I... I wasn't plannin' to meet with anybody else." She finished, her eyes threatening to tear at being so close to her former mother. Brushing past her, she broke off into a small run towards Akane's window, not listening to her mom's pleading 'wait'.

Stopping just under the window, she noticed it was closed. She couldn't jump through without breaking the glass. Her face suddenly broke into a smile. Time to test that levitation spell again. Closing her speckled eyes, the former aquatransexual concentrated and slowly gathered her mana around her body, lifting her into the air. Missing the surprised gasps from the older women on the ground as she floated to the window containing her former fiancée. "M... magic?" Kasumi asked in astonishment. Nodoka's eyes got wide, as her mind started to whirl and click on a thought. She then turned to look at her brown-haired companion.

"Kasumi, make sure he... she doesn't leave. I'll be back as soon as I can." Finished the Saotome matriarch as she took off running as best as her kimono would allow her too, and completely missed the purple-haired mazouku leaning against the outer wall with a slight bored expression.

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Tap tap+ Akane's head picked up from the desk she was using to rest. Getting up, the dishealved tomboy scanned the area of her room for the odd tapping noise, until she noticed it was coming from her window. At first, she just stared at the person at her window. Then her mind caught up with the present, and she remembered she was on the second floor. Wide-eyed, the bluish/black-haired girl quickly moved to the window and opened it. Then jumped back in shock as a two-year-old dressed in an outfit that was both cute and ugly at the same time floated and landed in her room. Then proceeded to stare at her as if she was examining a pack of meat.

Akane was about to open her mouth when the pony-tailed girl spoke, "Damn tomboy, you really let yourself go. Messed up hair, bags under your eyes, pale skin, in need of some real nourishment. What happened to the stubborn-as-a-mule, never give up, strong as a gorilla tomboy I used to know?" The redhead said with a frown as her arms were crossed in front of her tiny body with a familiar cocky grin. There was no mistaking who was in front of her at this very moment, even though it WAS the body of a child. Akane's hand slowly reached out until she came to the collar of the disturbing blouse. Then proceeded to grab the collar and shake the child with gusto.

"You stupid jerk! How the hell could you do this to everyone? Especially me? Let me guess... just a sick joke on your part to teach everyone a lesson? Did you pretend to die and somehow sneak one of those damn aging mushrooms with you? Well, ANSWER!!" She finished, staring the now dizzy child in the eyes.

"Oooo... pretty stars... Make them stop spinning." The reincarnated redhead muttered while trying to regain her self balance... only to be tossed onto the bed and stared at by an irate girl who was once her fiancée.

"Well?" Akane said with her arms tightly crossed.

"But I want more ice cream momma... err... damnit tomboy, you didn't have to shake me so hard!" Ranma said shaking her head to get the cobwebs out. "I did die, alright? Although apparently that was all part of some stupid prophesy or something that would then give me a second chance at life. To help someone else defeat that bastard. Would have been nice if I was a boy at the time of being in that damn chamber." The sorceress in training grumbled out.

"Yo... you mean that you are now permanently a girl? Born as one and living as one?" Akane asked with wide eyes. At her former fiancé's nod, the older girl started to giggle, and then full out laughter at the pout that appeared on the younger's face. "Well - ha ha- you won't be able to go on about being a boy anymore, and - ha ha - not go on anymore about girls being weak anymore. Welcome fully to the world of the female Ranma, and I would LOVE to see what kind of girl you grow into. Considering you still have your personality, I'm guessing a pure tomboy. Maybe a bit on the short tempered side because of your old self clashing with your new self?" Yes, Akane was having a ball. After all the times Ranma teased her, she's finally getting back at the boy turned girl double time.

A growl escape the redheads throat as her mind started to go on semi auto-pilot. Placing her hands in front of her chest, a small orange glow started to form, "R... Ranma? What's going on?" A soft voice asked near the door. Coming back to her senses, The girl in question looked down in her hands, and to the door to see Kasumi. Then back to her hands again to stare at the glowing orange ball of warm... something in her hands. Almost like fire. Her eyes then widened.

"COOL! I just learned a new spell!" Ranma shouted as she canceled out the spell and jumped around excitedly. Letting the child in her seep through for a moment before regaining her composure. Deciding to test out Fireball when she gets to a safe location, since an odd memory tells her that the spell would be too damaging in a crowded area. Looking towards the two older women, she could see Akane's shock.

"That was magic, wasn't it?" Kasumi asked in place of the startled Akane, who could just open and close her mouth like a gasping fish. Scratching the back of her head, the dual-eye colored child gave a small nervous laugh, and was interrupted before she could speak.

"If I'm correct, Ranma is a reincarnation of the sorceress Lina Inverse. Isn't that right, dear?" The voice of Nodoka asked as she entered the room, a little out of breath. Carrying an oddly shaped bundle in her arms. To Ranma's relief, it didn't look like a sword shape, although her mind clicked on something else.

"You've heard of Lina Inverse?"

"Of course. She was an ancestor" The Saotome matriarch said to the wide eyed youth.

"Well that's interesting..." Ranma grumbled with her arms crossed.

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"So I probably shouldn't of even HAD to die in the first place!" An irate youth screamed after explaining how she came back to life to a family who she just found out were actually distant relatives to her former family. Boy, would the Malfoys have a heart attack to learn they were related to non-magical people. Eh, better not let them know. Things would probably get a little messy.

"They sure do sound like some... stuck up people. I'd rather not get to know them I think." Nodoka said with a small frown. Glad that her former son-turned-daughter didn't pick up any habits from them. Putting that aside, she got back to the task at hand. "Yes, child. Lina and her husband, the great Gourry Gabrieve, had two children before they mysteriously died. The bodies of Gourry and their friends Amelia Wil Tesla Seiruun, Zelgadis Greywords, and Filia Ul Copt were found near an ancient group of springs. While Lina's body was nowhere to be found..."

"Wait! Group of springs? Missing redhead? How long ago was this?"

"Roughly 1500-years-ago. No one really knows the exact date. Why?" Nodoka asked confused.

"Sonuva... That's the same date as the girl spring I fell in those years ago. Meaning I probably had the magic ability inside of me before I died. If so, then why the hell did I have to get killed? Someone needs a serious beating, and I don't know who." Ranma fumed as she cracked her knuckles. Which was an odd site to see. A two-year-old cracking knuckles. "Er... sorry to interrupt the story um, mom." Maybe Nodoka wasn't her birth mom at the moment, but she would still consider the older woman her mother.

"That's alright, dear." Nodoka said with a smile. "Anyway, before the two died, Lina gave her oldest child her old sorcery outfit, battle knife, talismans and diary telling of her adventures and the spells she learned. While the younger sibling received an artifact known as the Sword of Light, as well as some other things." Ranma's eyes widened at hearing about the sword of light. She remembered seeing the sword in a case in one of the rooms of the Malfoy mansion during a nightly ah... training exercise on stealth. Her eyes then focused on the bundle her former mom pushed her way. Opening it, her eyes laid upon the items Nodoka mentioned that were passed down.

"Er, the clothes are a bit too big for me."

"You'll grow into them I'm sure" The older redhead said as she embraced the young child. "I wish you could stay. It would be the perfect chance to do things right. I'm just glad Soun and my foolish husband are out drinking. Otherwise there would have been a lot of arguing, and things not being able to be said."

"Ah, but she can't though. Learning, training, traveling, exploring, and all that good stuff." A cheerful voice said from behind everyone. Turning around, they saw Xellos calmly sipping some tea. The eccentric demon turned to Kasumi, "Quite a nice blend of tea here, Miss Tendo. I'd ask for some more, but I believe it's time for Ranma and me to be going. Places to go, people to see and all." The purple haired priest finished as he got up. The girl he's referring too looked around.

"Hey, where's Ryoga? Did he get lost?" Xellos just shrugged his shoulders with his ever present smile.

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(Somewhere in the Antarctic)

"Damn it's cold." Ryouga said as he held his cloak around him tightly. Then turned to the next thought on his mind, "And when the hell did penguin learn to dance? CURSE YOU RANMAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!" He bellowed as he took off in a random direction and disappeared. Leaving some penguins utterly confused.

"That alien was just plain weird."

"You got that right, Mumble."

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"Remember Akane. No more being depressed. You now know you had nothing to do with it, and if you continue to wallow in depression. I'll have to come back and... bring you back to your senses." Ranma finished with a mock glare and arms crossed. Her former fiancée just rolled her eyes and nodded. Kasumi then stepped up.

"I'm so glad I was able to see you again. You've always been like a younger brother, well, sister now." She giggled at the miffed look on the younger girl and bent down to hug the redhead. "I hope you'll get over that someday and accept what you are."

"I know what I am. I'm a boy in a girls body. I'll find a way to change back someday." Ranma muttered. The former boy was scooped up in another hug. This time by her former mother. Tears threatening to flow out of the older woman's eyes

"Please don't stay away too long. I'd like to see you every once in a while, and not have the same thing happen to you as last time. Also, make sure you visit your other mother. I know she probably misses you as well." She finished letting go of the dual-eye colored child, who then gave an innocent smile.

"Don't worry, I know of a very good way to get this guy to comply." She said, her smile turning into an evil grin. An evil grin Xellos would be most proud of in his own right... if it wasn't for the meaning behind the grin. Which caused him to shiver. Hoping to L-sama herself that he'd never have to deal with THAT look again. He'd rather sit through entire justice speeches of Amelia again that face that LOOK. Placing his hand on Ranma's head, he smiled his usual smile.

"Well it's time we get going. Thanks again for that tea recipe Kasumi." With that, demon and reincarnated martial artist/sorceress vanished, just as the Tendo gate opened to reveal two drunken fools stumbling ahead.

On a nearby roof, two figures watched the events that transpired a few minutes ago. One of them lowered her gnarled staff next to her as she sat down. "So the boy is now a girl. Ah to live that child's life. It would be an interesting thing day in and day out, but I doubt I would ever have the will to live it." Cackled Cologne as she looked next to her to see Happosai rubbing his hands together as if planning something. "Never give the child a break, eh Happy?"

The elderly man mearly smiled, a smile that promised trouble. "Why Cologne, you wounde me. Would I really do that to the kid? Alright, so I would. Someone has to keep her on her toes. Oh, I wonder if she'll actually wear lingerie in this life. Oh my silky darlings... papa will rescue you from your confinement other your cloth prisons!" Donning on his sack, the aged master of the Anything Goes took off to 'liberate' his 'darlings'. Leaving a sighing Cologne to shake her head.

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"Why would I need to learn all that?! It's not like I need any of the stuff. I'm smart enough. The day I need normal learning is the day pigs fly." Ranma commented turning away from her older traveling companion. She then felt Xellos tap on her shoulder and tell her to look up. Listening, the two-year-old's mouth went wide as she saw a pink pig in a cape fly by. "You have got to be kidding me. Fine, let's go see this genius friend of yours." Groused the redhead as Xellos teleported them out of the forest and to a house with a shrine nearby.

"Let's go Ranma." The cheerful demon said as he walked up towards the house with the child following him. Once they got to the door, Xellos knocked. A few seconds later the door opened to reveal a young girl of about 10 with blue hair in twin pony-tails and bright pink eyes.

"Yes? Oh, Xellos-san! How can I help you?"

"Good day Sasami. I'm here to meet with Washu" He finished happily while Ranma felt a sense of foreboding crawling up her spine.

A.N++

Finally finished this chapter. Took a while to get back into it, but I'm into it. I think the revision is going better than the previous was.


	3. It gets odder?

Wild Magic

Ranma 1/2, Slayers, and any other series used in this fanfic are owned by their respective creators/publishers/whatever

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Chapter 3

As Sasami lead Xellos into the house, she caught sight of a young girl who looked no older than two with vivid red hair done up in a style that mirrored her own. She didn't think the child was the daughter of the purple-haired Mazouku. Then again, she only knew him vaguely. Came by several months ago to meet with Washu-chan. "Xellos-san, is she your daughter?" The young redhead raised an eyebrow in her direction, looked up to the tall man, and then back to her with an expression that asked 'are you crazy?'

"Ha ha. No she isn't Sasami. This is Ranma. I was put in charge of training her in magic and fighting. She's quite an energetic little thing too!" said the purple haired demon as he pinched the redhead's cheek. His hand was quickly swatted away by an irate child. "Aw, but your cheeks are so pinchably cute." Xellos mentioned in mock sadness. He had to at least something. It was hard to keep his composure around the blue-haired girl and her ever present cheery attitude. This is why he was so keen to get Ranma away from the Tendo Dojo. That Kasumi may be able to make some good tea, but being around such a... saint made him queasy. Then there was that Mihoshi girl. Brrr...

Sasami stifled a giggle as she watched the pouting younger girl with her arms crossed in front of her. Remembering her manners, the young princess of Jurai casted a smile to the child. "Why don't you come in? I'm sure we have some ice cream in the kitchen." the blue-haired girl finished, feeling as if that would be the best way to break the ice with the younger girl.

Ranma's eyes widened and then shined at the thought of ice cream. "Ok!" she chimed jumping next to the taller girl. The girl had a slight 'Kasumi' feel to her. Not as serene, but could very well give the eldest Tendo daughter a run for her money. There was also something... off about her aura that the young redhead couldn't place. Putting the thought at the back of her mind, the young martial artist/sorceress decided to focus on one thing... Ice cream.

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"This is great!" Ranma announced as she stuffed her face with the most delicious of confections. She didn't care if she was acting childish. Its ice cream, and the pony-tailed girl could forgive herself for now. Across from her, the 10-year-old Sasami giggled lightly at her way of eating the dairy product. Wondering why she wasn't getting a brain freeze. Her thoughts were interrupted at the sound of soft footsteps coming towards the kitchen. The young princess caught site of the 'elderly' Shinto priest of the Masaki shrine, Katsuhito Masaki (Also secretly known as Yosho). The elderly priest blinked a bit at seeing a child he never saw before gobbling up ice cream like no tomorrow sitting next to Sasami. He was aware the mazouku Xellos stopped by to converse with Washu, so this child probably came with him.

"Who's your friend, Sasami?" He asked. Curious about the young girl who's emitting so much power. Both magical and spiritual. The child of his studying looked towards his way. The redhead merely waved and smiled. Her face was messy with ice cream.

"I'm Ranma." She supplied. She could tell that the man in front of her was a trained fighter. The way he carried himself was proof to that. The two-year-old wondered just how well she'd do against the guy at her greatly diminished strength. 'Damn, I really need to get a move on it. Now that I'm not with the Malfoy's, I can go on to do a bunch of the more... interesting methods.'

"Ranma what?" Katsuhito asked curiously. Maybe he knew the child's family. This would also provide a possible clue as to why the child suddenly appeared in his home.

The pony-tailed youth thought for a long moment. 'Sure I'm now a Malfoy, but I don't FEEL like I'm a Malfoy. Saotome also sounds wrong nowadays. There's also those small and vague memories I've been getting each time a new spell comes to me of being an Inverse. Why the hell do things like this happen to me!' She shouted in her head as she proceeded to pull her hair and slam her head against the table a few times. Causing Sasami and Katsuhito to look on in worry.

"Um... Ranma?" Sasami asked, to see if her new friend was ok. She jumped back as the smaller girl raised her index finger up.

"Ranma Malfoy Inverse." She stated finally. Deciding that the best way to decide would be to include a part of all three of her lives. She didn't care if it sounded weird. The redhead looked at the elderly man and waved her arm, "Don't ask about what was going' on just now. It's too weird and strange. You wouldn't believe it." Katsuhito's eye raised at the last part, but it went unnoticed to the child who was suddenly staring at the wall where a woman with spiky cyan hair and golden eyes phased through.

"What's all the commotion in here old man?" She asked grumpily as she floated in mid-air. Her golden eyes then caught site of a young child sitting in a seat and staring at her with wide eyes. Smirking to herself, the masu phased out of sight, and phased in right in front of the girl's face and gave a simple 'boo'.

The Shinto priest sighed and also waited for the scream, but the scream that came was one neither expected. "WOW! How'd you go through the wall like that? Is it magic? A martial arts technique? That would sure be something to know. That's so cool!" The resulting face fault caused Ranma to blink in confusion and scratch the back of her head. "What did I say?"

Ryoko was the quickest to recover and rested her elbow on the child's head. "A normal child would have run away... or peed themselves. You're not bad, shrimp." The space pirate was then at a loss for words as the redhead started to get angry.

"What did you call me?!" came the shriek from the two-year-old who sent a glare to the floating woman

"Shrimp? Shrimpo? Shrimpy?" asked the cyan haired woman examining her nails with a smirk. 'Oh this could be fun. The princess has been a little boring lately and there needs to be some action going on around here.' Looking back to the child, Ryoko shrugged. "I mean look at you. You're tiny, runty, insignificant, and scrawny. A virtual toothpick..."

"Shut up you thick-legged psycho!" Ranma shouted jumping out of her chair, a small red aura outline around her. Katsuhito and Sasami shared a look and decided it best to quickly leave the possible disaster zone... at least until one of the two girls calmed down.

"Wha... what did you say?" Ryoko asked with a slight twitch to her eye. Increasing in speed at the cocky smirk appearing on the face of the one that she was teasing just a few seconds ago.

"Yeah, you heard me. Thick-legged, ugly, psycho... and is that a small wrinkle on your forehead? You're age must be starting to show." Finished the redhead with arms crossed. Of course, the woman in front of her wasn't any of that. It was just fun to see her get riled up. Ranma's eyes widened when an energy sword formed in the woman's hand. "Ack!" came her intelligent reply when she figured this might get a little messy. Catching sight of an open kitchen window, the former boy jumped through it so not to cause any damage to the house.

"Get back here you brat!" An irate masu shouted as she chased off after the retreating girl. She wasn't going to hurt her too bad. Just teach her not to disrespect those older than her. A few bruises to make her cry ought to do.

"Think we should try and stop them?" Tenchi asked after being filled in on what was going on in the kitchen.

"She may be a monster woman, Tenchi, but not even she would hurt a child. She probably plans to just put some fear into her. At least I hope." Ayeka finished uncertainly. Silence reined for a few seconds in the living room before everyone shuffled quickly to the outside.

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'Damn!' Ranma thought as she dodged a punch from the cyan haired woman. 'She's fast, and that flying of her's makes it so I can't fight her effectively. Damn weak two-year-old body.' Grabbing onto another punch from the older woman, Ranma used her current strength to heave her away as far as she could... only to see the woman straighten up in mid-air just a few feet away.

"You're going to have to do better than that shrimpy." Ryoko taunted with a cocky smirk that mirrored Ranma's just a few minutes ago. She was actually impressed a little with the skill the child showed. Reaching to her shoulder, the space pirate rubbed the spot that the redhead got a shot in moments ago. It felt more like a small bug bite that stung just a little bit. It wasn't all that strong, but stronger than a normal two-year-old.

Ranma started to fume at the flying woman. Until her eyes lit up, "Two can play this game." she whispered to herself as she concentrated and began to raise into the air to her opponent's level. "Not so special now, ugly." The redhead taunted as she floated there clumsily. Increasing her will, she managed to remain straight and move around without falling. 'Ha! I'm getting the hang of this magic stuff.'

Ryoko growled at the 'ugly' insult. "So you can fly. Let's see how well!" Balls of energy appeared in her hands, causing the redhead's eyes to widen. A sinister grin found it's way onto the cyan-haired girl's face as she let loose a volley towards her opponent.

"Shit!" The former Saotome exclaimed as she clumsily dodged a few of the energy spheres. "MOUKO TAKABISHA!" Shouted the two-year-old as she let fly her own ki blast. Ryoko, in shock of seeing the two-year-old pull off an energy attack of her own, was hit dead center and knocked back. Ranma wasn't able to rest as the spiky-haired alien, who was just a little scuffed, let loose another volley. This time, the redhead was grazed a few times. "Ooowwwww..."

The golden-eyed masu was about to gloat when her angered opponent placed her hands in front of her chest. "Oh, source of all power, light which burns beyond crimson." Her eyes widened at the orb pulsing with fire that appeared in those hands. "Let thy power gather in my hand. FIREBALL!" The ball was then let loose, coming her way. No problem, she'd just teleport away at the last moment. As she was about to get out of harm's way, a cry of 'break!' was heard. Causing the fire to explode.

Ranma had to smile at that. 'Break' entered her mind right as she was tossing the fireball. She wasn't ready to relax yet. She had to see if the older woman was unconscious or something. She hoped so, because that lady was tough. "Not a bad move, shrimp." A voice whispered from her shoulder. Turning her head, the two-year-old saw her opponent. She was a little charred and battered, but was otherwise fine. "Too bad it wasn't enough." The cyan-haired woman commented as she brought her fist back and sent it towards the stunned redhead.

Recovering quickly, she brought her arms forward to block the incoming blow. The block was successful, but the force sent her careening into the forest and to come at a stop next to a tree trunk. The block almost turned her arms to jelly. Blue and red specked eyes stared straight into golden eyes as the battered redhead stood to her feet. "You're not too bad." Ranma reluctantly said. The smirk answering her back got under her skin.

"Teaches you to know better than to pick fights with people you don't know, eh pipsqueak? Now why don't you just count your losses and go home crying to mommy?" The space pirate chuckled out. The kid was so much fun to tease. Confusion played across her face as a slight dark aura appeared around the child. Said child then started muttering something.

The young redhead can't quite remember how powerful the spell is, although she knows it has at least some power to it. "Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows. Buried in the flow of time." Ryoko was starting to feel a little wary as she started backing up. "In thy great name, I pledge myself to darkness. All the fools who stand in our way shall be destroyed..." At this point, at the sight of the red orb that pulsed with incredible destructive power, Ryoko started moving faster. "...by the power you and I possess! DRAGON SLAVE!" As the spell left Ranma's hand, a certain space pirate decided it best to teleport away. While a certain redheaded martial artist/sorceress-in-training's mind suddenly caught up on a memory of just how destructive the Dragon Slave was.

"Oh shi..." The reincarnated child managed out before darkness claimed her.

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(A few moments ago)

"That young child certainly isn't bad." Ayeka commented as the redhead battled with her rival for Tenchi. "But I don't think she has a chance against the mummy." The purple-haired princess quipped as she watched the battle take place in the air.

"We should stop this grandpa!" Shouted Tenchi to the older member of the Masaki family. "That girl is going to get hurt."

"Calm down Tenchi. It's just an innocent battle between two fighters. She may be but a child, but it seems like she can handle herself.. If things get bad, I'll step in." Katsuhito supplied to his grandson as he watched Ranma careen into the woods, and Ryoko follow. His body suddenly stiffened at the feeling of great destructive power, "This... does not feel good." The other spectators, except Mihoshi, felt it too.

"What's going on?" Sasami asked in fear as Ryoko materialized right in front of her just a second before the forest seemingly exploded outwards, gusts from the blast threatening to knock back everyone. As the winds died down, Ryoko let loose a long whistle.

"Pipsqueak's got some serious power." Something else then occurred to her. "Hey, she was in the middle of the blast, so..." The masu didn't get to finish her sentence as the door to the Masaki home flew open to reveal a wide-eyed Washu. The scientific genius looked towards the smoke and took off running. The assembled group exchanged looks before taking off after the diminutive scientist. When the young group caught up to Washu, they were shocked to see the size of the crater, and a small figure laying in the center who was recognizable as Ranma. Her clothes were completely shredded, and some blood was trickling from her mouth. Her hair, for some reason was pure snow white.

The spiky-haired scientist finished her small examination, picked up the de-clothed youth, and looked at everyone. "We need to get her to my lab, pronto! She's in dire need of medical attention!" Exclaimed Washu as she made a beeline to her sub-dimensional lab.

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"Uhhh... what the hell hit me?" Ranma asked herself as she opened her eyes. Confusion came to her as she looked on to see a mountain blocking her vision. "Where the hell am I?" She asked herself.

"You're in yer own mind. After ya nearly killed yerself on that damn dangerous magic." A grouchy voice said behind her.

"Hey, it's not the magic's fault. That's what happens when your memory is Swiss cheese." Another voice said.

Turning around, the two-year-old's eyes bugged out at the site before her. Two figures, both almost see through spirits, were sitting at a low table calmly drinking tea. The one on the left resembled her old male self, with a loose ponytail instead of pigtail. On the right was someone who looked like Lina Inverse of the past. "Wha... huh... who... how?" She let out, a loss for words.

'Lina' gave off a small smirk. "Still has your eloquence with words." The phrase was directed to the 'Ranma' on the left. 'Lina' ignored the indignant 'Hey!' from both Ranma's and greeted the redhead. "I believe I know what your question is. Both of us, grumpy over there and myself, are parts of your own psyche given form. Something generated by your subconscious to help you after almost being killed by that Dragon Slave you carelessly casted. A kind of spirit if you will." The older sorceress supplied. A snort came from Spirit-Ranma direction.

"That's what happens when ya play with magic. Ya end up gettin' burned. We wouldn't have almost been killed if it wasn't for you, ya damn flat-chested bandit killOUCH" Spirit-Ranma yelped nursing a few lumps on his head from the insulted sorceress, who motioned for real-Ranma to sit at the table. The younger redhead sat down thinking to herself.

'Great, I'm trapped in my own mind with a short-tempered ancient past life, and my past male self. Why the hell does he get to be male and me stuck as I am?' She finished, sending a glare to the spirit who dares taunt her with her former body. The spirit in male skin winced at the intensity of the glare he was receiving.

"Will ya cut that out? It's not my fault. Blame yer own mind for thinking us up. As well as that that magic. No good can come of magic. Think of all the problems it's caused ya. Made yer life as me hell, and that Voldemort guy killed ya with it. better off if ya tossed out learning magic and just stuck with Martial Arts. The thing you were supposed to be training in." He finished receiving a glare from Lina.

"If anything, you should focus on sorcery. Maybe magic did 'make your life hell' in your previous life, but learning it could help you reverse and avoid magical problems, spells, etc. A Little martial arts here and there wouldn't hurt. It would keep you in shape and all that good stuff." Spirit-Ranma slammed his fist against the table.

"What about normal people? How effective would the crap be if yer livin' among non magical people and attacked by criminals or somethin'. Magic would be too flashy and attract attention. With the art, you could defend yerself more discretely!"

The two were brought out of their argument by the sound of someone snoring. Turning their heads, they see the two-year-old with her head down on the table fast asleep with a bit of drool hanging out. "Ice cream..." Muttered the child in her sleep. Sweat dropping, the two spirits bopped her on the head to wake her up. "Whadja do that for?!" Yelled the irate redhead.

"We're havin' an important argument."

"Bull! You two are just trying' to bore me to death with this nonsense. I need to get out of here before I start going crazy!" Real Ranma stated. Mumbling to herself about being so pigheaded and stubborn.

"You can't at the moment. Your body is still recovering from your brush with death earlier. For now you're stuck. While you're here, maybe you should deal with a certain issue that SHOULD have been dealt with a long time ago." Spirit-Lina mentioned as she sipped her tea. Ranma tilted her head and looked at the older woman.

"What issue is that?" What kind of issue could she solve while being stuck inside her own head? The two-year-old followed the pointed finger, and what she saw caused her to let out a scream, jump behind Spirit-Ranma, and peek out from behind his back. "You expect ME to solve that issue? Do you have a screw loose?!" She asked looking straight on ahead at a small and cute kitten looking her way with big soulful eyes. The kind of eyes, in Ranma's opinion, that promised to devour her own soul. "You have GOT to be nuts."

"That's exactly what I was thinkin'." Agreed Spirit-Ranma. A bit un-nerved by the kitten as well, but not experiencing the fear that his real self is experiencing.

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In the sub-dimensional lab that belongs to Washu, the redheaded scientist is sitting back in her chair and wiping her forehead. After about three hours of intensive care, Ranma was finally in stable condition. Looking at her computer screen, it was a miracle the young girl survived. A severe concussion, serious internal bleeding, broken bones, physical, spiritual, and magical exhaustion. She must have used almost all of her energy to somehow protect herself from the blunt of the explosion. Either that, or she was insanely lucky. For a two-year-old to be able to live through that...

For a split second, the scientist thought about her as a guinea pig. The idea was promptly squelched to the back of her mind. The girl was only two-years-old, and even a scientist like herself knew when to NOT cross the line into experimenting. Getting to her feet, the spiky-haired girl walked over to the tank which contained the child in question. A breathing mask and wires attached to her as she floated. As she stood there and examined the young girl, her mind drifted to the conversation she had with that damn Mazouku after bringing Ranma in.

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(Three hours earlier)

"Ah" The purple-haired demon said carelessly after Washu stated her diagnosis of the two-year-old who was now floating in the tank that began the slow process of healing her. Everyone turned and looked at him blankly, except for Washu. The super genius gave him a look that, if possible, could've bore through solid steel.

"What do you mean 'Ah'? The girl almost died, and you're just shrugging it off like it's no big deal? How the hell did you come to be in charge of her well being?! What sane parents would hand their child over to a demon to take care of?" The regular residents of the house backed away a little. They've seen Washu angry before, but never this angry. It was kind of scary. The only one who wasn't affected was the mazouku the anger was directed at.

Xellos merely yawned. "I'm aware of that, but seeing as how you seem to have it all under control and all, there's no need to worry or anything. Ranma's a tough person. It Comes from her two previous incarnations. If she were to die just because of a little spell backfire, then she would have died in her first incarnation and not have become one of the greatest that she had. As for how I came to be in charge of her well being, I merely offered to give her some scrolls on magic and martial arts. I also told her family that she'd come back one of the greatest magic users."

"They believed you right off the bat?" Washu asked incredulously.

"What do you expect from a wizarding family who's used to working with dark and evil wizards and witches? They're prideful of being 'pure blood' and having the power to back it up. I just appealed to their ideals. It's easy to get people to trust you when you know what they want. As for why I'm training Ranma. Well, that's a secret. Even to me actually. I'm just following orders. Although I will say one thing. The child attracts chaos like a magnate, and as you know, I like chaos. It keeps me... entertained." The trickster said with a smile. '_Besides, Ranma's also having me carry her stuff, so until she gets something to use to carry her own stuff, she's stuck with me.'_ Xellos whispered under his breath.

"Give me everything. Ranma's stuff, and all those scrolls." Washu said with her arms crossed. Having heard the last part.

"What?" Asked the priest with a frown. 'Hm... maybe I said too much. Ah well, no matter.' His composure regained, the demon tilted his head. "Why would you want the items?"

"Because if Ranma has all her things and those scrolls you promised her, she'd have no need to follow a bastard like you into harms way. There's no way in Hell that I'll sit back and let a child travel with someone who cares only for the satisfaction of chaos, and not of her well being." The scientist stated, slipping into a maternal role.

"Oh Washu, you amuse me so." Xellos laughed. After the laugh, his eyes opened and stared at the smaller girl. "She may have the body of a two-year-old, but her mental state is much older than she appears. 17 or 18 years worth from her previous life, and who knows how much from the life before that. Considering that area of her mind is virtually Swiss cheese. She's not a normal child that you'd be able to coop up and take care of. She holds a wander lust, and will have to travel with me to enhance her abilities properly." Finished the demon as his purple eyes bore into Washu's.

Staring back with equal force, Washu frowned. "I don't care what you say. Even if her mental capability is of that, her physical age is of a two-year-old, and her physical capabilities are only a little greater than that of a normal two-year-old. She wouldn't be able to survive out there on her ki and magic alone, and who knows WHAT dangers you'd lead her into. Now please hand me the items I requested." She finished with her hand out in front. The staring match took place for a few seconds until the purple-haired demon got bored and spun around.

"Nah. I'll just be out of here until she's well."

"Hold it right there. Make one more move and I'll press this button." Xellos turned his head and saw a small remote in the diminutive scientist's hand. The mazouku priest gave off a small chuckle.

"Go ahead, try your worst." The smile on Washu's face grew sinister as she pressed the button. What came next filled Xellos with pure nausea. All around the laboratory, a sickening sound was being heard.

"_You're my honey bunch, sugar plum, pumpy-umpy-umpkin. You're my sweetie-pie. You're my cuppy-cake, gum drop. Snoogums-boogums, you're the apple of my eye. And I love you so..._"

"STOP!!! STOP THIS MADNESS!!!!!" Xellos screamed as he doubled over in an odd combination of nausea and weakness. 'Th... this song. It ha... has got to be the most sickingly cute, cavity inducing piece of torture EVER! Not even that look Ranma gave me, or those old speeches Amelia did long ago, can compare. Oh god... it's starting over again!!!'

"Didn't count on me researching deeper about Mazouku after your visit a few months ago, did you Xellos? Now, like I asked, give me the items." After the tortured being pulled a large pack out of a subspace pocket, Washu stopped the song. "I also fitted the area around the house and shrine to play the song if you ever come near again. If that falls through, there's also something else you wouldn't want to even think about. Now, please get your ass out of my lab." The scientist said with a lovely smile. Xellos, at a loss for the first time in a long time, glared at the redhead, and vanished.

"Note to self. A Fully angered Washu is bad. So very bad..." Tenchi said softly as the assembled group could only nod vigorously.

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(At present)

"According to these scans of her brain, her mental usage IS that of someone older than two. There's more in that noggin than the average two-year-old. Just can't really tell what it's at, since it seems to be fluctuating for some reason. The demon was right about that at least." Her eyes twinkled for a second. "The reason Xellos brought her WAS to educate her. Not exactly sure why, but that's why he brought her. Young children also have a high learning curve. Imagine all that I could teach her. I shall take it upon myself to teach her." Washu's laugh found it's way beyond the closet door of the Masaki household and placed fear into those who heard it.

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(Back in Ranma's subconscious)

"Bu..but that thing'll eat me alive. I... it only LOOKS cute." Ranma stuttered out as the two personified parts of her mind pulled her towards the small big-eyed kitten. Apparently the two 'geniuses' figured that if she proved to it who the dominate one was, and then it would become part of her. Ridding her of the fear of cats.

"Aw come on. That kitten can't be THAT evil. Quit acting like a weakling." The form of Spirit-Lina taunted. Ranma's eyes narrowed at the last comment.

"Who are you calling a weakling, flat-chest?" The second the word left her mouth, Spirit-Lina glared at her with eyes so fierce that a dragon would be spooked. Ranma wished she could shrink and run away. 'Ulp, I guess what they said long ago WAS true.' She thought before being picked up by the armpits and tossed towards the kitten. Falling flat on her face near the demon spawn, the young redhead scrambled to her knees.

"Meow?" Came the vile sound as it tilted its head and stared at her. Shivering uncontrollably, Ranma reached out slowly to pet the cute demon. As her hand got closer, it seemed as if everything was going to be alright. A small smile broke out as her fingers touched the fuzzy head. "REEEOOOWWWW!!!!" Screeched the kitten as an aura shaped like a tiger emitted outwards. Faster than the blink of an eye, an energy fueled claw swiped through the air as Ranma jumped back.

"..." Silence reined as the reincarnated child looked towards her left hand to see it wasn't there anymore. This went on a few more seconds until "AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!! MY HAND'S GONE!! THE THING SLICED MY HAND OFF!!!" Spirit Ranma and Lina could only watch as a young two-year-old girl, missing her left hand, ran around waving her arms frantically and screaming at the top of her lungs. The redhead finally stopped in front of the two in hysterics.

"Whoa, whoa. Calm down there."

"CALM DOWN?! MY FREAKING HAND WAS CUT OFF!! YOU WANTED ME TO GET CLOSE TO THE MONSTER, SO I DID! THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED!" The two-year-old shouted. What would she do now? How could she tell people it was done by a kitten? Why... um... why wasn't it bleeding? "There's... no blood?" Looking to the two spirits, Ranma was hoping for an answer.

"Ahem." Spirit-Lina cleared her throat. "This is your own mind, Ranma. You have control here. Just will your hand back." Doing as she was told, Ranma saw her hand grow back. Thinking how she just acted, the young girl's face became red in embarrassment.

"I... I knew that! I was just kidding. Ahahahahahaha..." Turning away from the blank stares, the martial artist/sorceress-in-training looked in the direction of the kitten and shuddered. "Since it's my mind, I... I could probably do s... something about that thing." Concentrating, the former boy reined in her emotions and looked onwards with cold eyes at the confused kitten. Step by step, closer and closer, ready to rid herself of the menace.

"HISSS!!!" Came from the kitten, trying to ward off the threat. When the warning didn't work, the angry feline pounced. Just before it reached the redhead, it's body became frozen in mid-air. "M.. mrow?" It questioned in fear as the hand of the redhead came nearer and nearer. Closing its eyes, the furry creature waited for the end. The end, however, actually felt pretty good. Opening a curious eye, it caught sight of the one in front of it giving an unsure smile as the fingers petted it.

Ranma was a bit startled when the thing started to purr, but continued petting it. "Hey, your not evil. You're just a little kitten protecting its territory. Why couldn't this have happened a long time ago?" As she finished petting and released the cat, something odd started to happen. A white glow enveloped the feline, and expanded until everything was covered in white.

After everything died down, Ranma couldn't spot the cat anymore. "It's gone."

"Feelin' any different?" The black-haired spirit asked curiously.

Looking around for a few seconds and then concentrating, "Yeah, I don't seem to feel any fear whenever I think of a cat. My senses have also seemed to increase. Don't know how much until I wake up. I also don't seem to be any stronger than I was. That is good, since I hate free power-ups. Although it wouldn't exactly be a free power-up. I'd just rather grow into strength and all instead of getting it all at once." Finished the redhead on her inspection.

The two spirits nodded as their forms began to vanish. "It looks like your getting ready to wake up. Ciao." Waved Spirit-Lina as the two vanished, and the area around Ranma began to fade.

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"Ah, she's starting to wake." Washu Noticed as she worked at computer monitoring her patience's health. It had all taken an estimated five hours, and the diminutive redhead was starting to feel a little worn out. Yet she still needed to check on some things and inform the girl on some issues regarding her treatment. Yawning, the 20,000-year-old leaned back and waiting for the child's eyes to open.

Said child's eyes began to twitch and slowly open. 'Guh, that was all weir... the hell?!' Eyes opened wide, she looked around frantically. Floating in a tank of water, check. Naked, check. Wires attached, check. Weird and mad looking evil laboratory, check.

Conclusion: _Trapped by some evil and crazed scientist bent on using her for insane experiments to possibly create the ultimate human weapon needed to take over the world and carve a new world order._

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Ranma. I'm Washu, but you can call me Washu-chan. The greatest scientific genius in the universe. HAHAHAHA!" _Yep, trapped by a crazed scientist alright._ "You really did a number on yourself with that spell you casted earlier. It was lucky I managed to get to you in time. Otherwise you'd be drifting to the land of the dead. I'm serious; Death was probably breathing down your neck."

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"Glad that kooky scientist managed to save her. Would have been a shame if she died again after just two years." Botan commented as she sat on her oar.

"Why do I have the sudden feeling I'm going to be busy within the next few years around her. Let it _JUST_ be a feeling, _PLEASE_."

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"Here, let me get you out of that." Tapping a button on her computer, the tank began to drain. After the draining, the glass surrounding the fellow redhead lifted into the air, and the breathing mask and wires pulled away. Leaving a slightly dazed two-year-old to walk off onto the floor, only to lose her balance and fall on her face. Washu stood there blinking for a few seconds until she moved to the downed child.

"Owww. What happened to my balance?" asked Ranma rubbing her nose. Looking up, she saw the weird scientist... squatting in front of her with a weird look on her face. "What's wrong?" Confused, the newly healed girl watched as the person in front of her raised a finger and started poking something on her head. "What the..." Slowly lifting her hands, Ranma felt a pair of furry objects on the top of her head, and the color drained from her face. "Washu...chan, do you have a long mirror?" Nodding, the scientist shuffled off and returned a couple seconds later with a full length mirror. Looking on in shock, the blue w/red specks-eyed girl saw a pair of furry scarlet cat-ears on the top of her head, and a red furry tail swishing behind her. "Th... this is just too weird. Go away, go away!" She screamed at her knew protrusions.

As if listening to her, the new appendages disappeared. Sighing in relief, she started cursing again when they popped back out. "At least I know I can hide the damn things. It's always me that this weird stuff happens to. What could go wrong next?" Now Murphy must have been having a grand ol' time that day, for he chose to answer the question of the two-year-old. Who just so happened to sink into the floor up to her chest. "Wha? Greeeeaaat." Pouted the redhead

"Oh... I forgot to mention. You were so badly injured that I had to use a little bit of masu DNA to help you. There's not much of a difference from before. You can just do things such as short range teleportation, intangibility through objects, and some minor other things. Ha ha..." Nervously laughed the short scientist. Ranma sent her an inquisitive look.

"Doesn't give me any unneeded power boost or anything, does it?"

"No, just think of it as now being able to do a few new techniques."

"Ok, that's good." Pulling herself out from the floor, a thought suddenly popped into her head. "That means... I can do that whole moving through objects thingy that Ryoko woman did, right?" At the scientist's nod, Ranma jumped up. "Yeah! Let's go!"

Spotting a wall, the redhead took off running at full speed and jumped off her feet heading towards the wall. A loud 'slam' was heard, and an unconscious redhead slid to the floor. At the exact moment, the cyan-haired space pirate came into the lab and caught sight of the child she fought earlier. "Um... why is there and unconscious and naked two-year-old girl with red cat-ears and tail lying face down near the wall kissing cold floor?"

Putting her hand to her forehead as if under a migraine, Washu looked towards her 'daughter'. "Would you believe that I'm not sure as to why she has cat features, although I have a theory that I'm most likely right about, and that the reason she's kissing cold floor is because she took a running leap at the wall and tried to phase through it, only to crash head first?"

"... Yes, yes I would." After all, weird things always seemed to pop-up around here. It's just that this kind of took the cake at the moment.

"Good. Now help me dress her and take her to a guest room. I need some rest after the long day, and I won't be able to do it watching after our little friend there."

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Ranma opened her eyes for what seemed like the third time in such a short amount of time. "Owww... my head." Glancing around at her surroundings, she noticed from looking out the window that it seemed to be morning of the next day. The redhead noticed the unfamiliar surroundings and frowned. 'So it wasn't all a dream.' She thought, feeling the ears on the top of her head. Pulling off the covers, a small smile came to her face. 'At least I'm rid of those eyesores of clothing.' Examining the pajamas, Ranma noticed they were blue with crab designs."Well that scientist's hair did look a little crab shaped, so it makes sense."

Hopping off the bed, the two-year-old moved to the closed door and reached for the knob. Only to have her hand pass through it. "Damn scientists." Trying again, she managed to grasp the knob and turned. Now free of the room, Ranma trudged down the hall and descended the steps. A few seconds later, she found herself alone in a living room. Figuring everyone else must be asleep still, since it was only just about 6AM, the well rested redhead hopped onto the sofa and flipped on the TV. Her eye came to a slow twitch at what appeared on the TV. A pink-skinned feminine alien with pointy ears and small horns almost hidden within her long green hair was talking about the weather on some planet called Aquastosian XVI. "What the hell is going on?" Flipping through the channels, her eyes blinked at noticing there was at least 4,593 channels or so. Many of them depicting alien programs and similar.

Maybe she wasn't able to get access to a TV for the last two years, but the redhead distinctly remembered that there wasn't a single alien TV channel before her death. She also doubted that most of the earth had even had contact with any extra-terrestrials. Ranma may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but her mind, if used properly and had an interest in the subject (Martial arts as an example), was a steel trap. The redhead also wasn't aware that her mind was starting to slowly assimilate the thought processes of her older incarnation. From flipping through channels that she thought shouldn't even exist on earth, she was able to determine that the people whe was currently housed up with weren't exactly of earth. This would make sense, concerning Crab-hair's laboratory.

"Myah!" Wincing slightly at the noise, Ranma discovered she didn't have any fear at all. Just a slight leftover reaction from the fear itself. Glancing in the direction of the noise, scarlet-haired child saw an odd creature. It was small, brown, and had floppy ears. Looking like an odd cross between a rabbit and cat. The small thing hopped up onto the couch next to Ranma and sniffed her a bit before tilting her head. Most likely confused by the myriad of smells coming from the child.

Ranma caught herself smiling at the tiny 'cabbit'. "Hi, I'm Ranma." Her eyes widened when the furry thing jumped at her and rested its head on the startled redhead and began 'myahing' happily at the redhead.

"Looks like Ryo-Ohki made a new friend." Sasami giggled as she sat down on the couch next to the smaller girl. "She gets easily attached to people. Ryo-Ohki's so much like a small furry child." Her pink eyes caught sight of the catty features on the girl she met only for a brief moment yesterday before Ryoko and her got into a spat. "I don't remember you having cat ears and a tail when we met yesterday, Ranma-chan." The small twitching of the girl's eyes, which now seemed to settle on a nice mixture of blue and red, after being called 'chan' confused the young princess.

Sitting back and petting the young cabbit, Ranma sighed. "Let's just say that it's a side effect of getting over another side effect that I had."

"Something from your previous life?" Sasami received a wide eyed reaction from the child, who looked at her as if asking how she knew that. "Yesterday when Washu was treating you, that demon Xellos and she got into an argument, and he mentioned some things about you having some previous lives." At the mention of a certain purple-haired mazouku, Sasami's suddenly felt a little dislike towards the guy. To have an utter indifference towards the safety of a child... That was not a person that Sasami wanted to be around.

"Ah, so Crab-hair and Xellos got into a spat. What about?" Curiously, Ranma listened to the twin pony-tailed girl describe the events yesterday while she was... indisposed at the moment. The blue/red-eyed girl's expression darkened at the thought of Xellos. 'Bastard. Even Genma cared in his own way about my well being while training me... There were exceptions though.' Her smile turned sinister. 'Maybe I should get a copy of that song for if I come across him again.' The thought of bringing complete nausea to the mazouku was derailed when something else she was wondering popped up."Hey, Um, Sasami."

"Yes?"

"I don't mean to be rude, but I was looking at the TV and noticed some... unearthly channels. I was just wondering..." She hoped it wasn't bad that the question was asked, and hoped even more that they didn't decide to do stuff to her now that she knew.

Sasami sighed. She tried to tell Washu that having all those channels would be a bad thing. Although then the blue-haired Juraian princess wouldn't be able to see some of her favorite programs if they didn't have them. Mihoshi would also cry at the lack of her favorite cartoons. Ranma also visited the inside of Washu's lab, so maybe she already suspected. "Ok Ranma-chan" She ignored the twitch in the redhead's eyes. "I'll tell you..."

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'Poor Tenchi. All these girl problems. I remember what that's like.' Thought the redhead as she pet a sleeping Ryo-Ohki. After finishing her tale, the younger Juraian princess excused herself to prepare breakfast. Ranma offered to help, but Sasami explained that the two-year-old wouldn't be able to reach the counter. Not able to dispute that logic, the younger child remained on the couch with a sleeping Ryo-Ohki. Sasami really did seem a lot like Kasumi. Taking it upon herself to cook and all.

"So how you feeling this morning after your collision with my laboratory wall?" Nearly jumping out of her skin, Ranma looked behind her to see the redheaded scientist with crab shaped hair. Said scientist hopped over the back of the couch and landed next to her and asked with a smirk, "What kind of person would run head-on without trying to figure out a new ability of there's?"

The two-year-old looked away miffed. "Just a small error is all. That whole phasing thing or whatever you call it has been giving me a few problems. I've been sinking or having my hand pass through objects since I woke up. It's not fun to almost fall through a floor."

"You just have to concentrate on your whole being until it all becomes subconscious. After that, you wouldn't need to think about it. Your mind will then figure out when the best time to become and not become intangible will be. Now I need to inform you on what abilities you now have." At the word 'abilities', Ranma's eyes locked onto hers in rapt attention. Washu gave a smile and continued. "Now that you have some masu DNA coursing through you, you'll have access to other functions. Flight and teleporting are two big ones. As well as quick regenerative abilities and survivability in areas with no oxygen. As I said last night, you did not receive a power boost. Just some new... tricks to play around with. You may even develop some more as you grow older. Much like your sorcery and martial arts." Almost laughing at the sparkling of the two-year-old's eyes, the 20,000-year-old scientist put her hand on the younger redhead's shoulder.

"From this day forth, I shall be your teacher. I will teach you how to use your new masu abilities. I will also provide you a place for you to better your martial and magical abilities. I will also teach you math, science, history, language arts, and all the other needed subjects." Ranma's face fell at the last part.

"Why do I need to learn that stuff? I don't need to learn it. Why would a martial artist and sorceress need to know that crud?" The stern look Washu sent her way made her shiver a bit.

"If you were to try and make a living off martial arts, you'd need to run a training hall or something similar. All the mental skills I mentioned, and more, take place in running a proper business. Without those, you are bound to fail. The same goes for sorcery. In sorcery there are calculations that must take place. You need to be aware of the right amount of magic to put into the spell. As well as calculate the distance, radius, and size of the result. Science can also be incorporated with your magic. You could probably take some components and combine them together to create something else. Such as... creating a flawless gemstone out of powder and flawed gemstones." The redheaded scientist mentally waved a fan as she saw that her new student's interest was completely piqued.

"Language-arts is important as well. There are many spells which require one to speak the incantation clearly. Otherwise there would be disastrous effects. I've done some research before about a sorcerer actually exploding himself from the inside out for botching up one word in his spell." At the pale face of her listener, Washu continued. "So as you can see. It's important to use your mind as best as you can. Considering the mazouku said that in your past life, you were one of the great sorceresses, then you must have been at least knowledgable in mental learning for the times back then." Ranma had to simply nod. Some place in her mind knew that part to be the truth. "I would like to know something Ranma."

"What?"

"When did you come under the influence of the Neko-ken?" At the younger's surprised look, Washu continued. "The Neko-ken, or Felicidan conversion method as the proper name is, was created 18,000 years ago by a race of cat-like aliens called the Felicidans. It was created to convert those who wished to live onto the planet. The process was quite painful. The 'initiation' required the person who wished to live on the planet to be constantly mauled by cats until their subconscious created a kind of incarnate of the fear. That person was then required to overcome and dominate the fear. It may SOUND easy in theory, but, as you are probably well aware of, it's almost impossible. Many either died or went insane, while a select worthy few went on to become citizens. Many suggest the method was part of the Felicidan's sadistic way of dealing with population and weeding out weak fools."

"After a while, this news reached both Jurai and the Galaxy Police. You see, the people who survived the ordeal were sworn to secrecy. Never to tell how the planet made people its citizens. Anyone who let go the secret would have their stomach sliced open, and be hung by their own intestines." The whole thought caused Ranma to go green. "It was never figured out how the information got out, but it did. The emperor of Jurai at the time sent the Galaxy Police to investigate. Since Feliciana was JUST near the edge of the Juraian Empire. The 'initiation' went on for so long because the planet was so far out, and not many people traveled there. It was a virtual unknown."

"The emperor 'convinced' them to halt their barbaric initiations. Otherwise they wouldn't see the next day alive. The Felicidans did comply, but not before sending manuals across space disguised as a training technique. This was most likely meant to be a kind of cruel joke. They believed that any fighter worth their weight wouldn't dare pass up the possibility of learning such an exotic thing. Once the person, if they ever do, survives and conquers their fear, they become 'one with the cat'. They gain a pair of ears and a tail they could will away for some amount of time, enhanced senses, the ability to use compressed air from their finger tips, and enhanced flexibility and balance. The last two are functional the most when the tail is present. The Felicidans weren't a strong race, but they were skillful and cunning." Digesting the information, her pupil nodded.

"Yeah, I noticed the flexibility and all after I woke up this morning. You don't know how great it is to finally be free of that damn fear. Now I'm afraid of nothing! No weakness to hold me down!" The two-year-old laughed. A laugh that eerily reminded Washu of her own laugh. "As for when I learned it. It was in my previous life, the one right before this one. My father at the time, Genma Saotome, 'found' the manual and decided to train me in it before I was even 10-years-old. Wrapped me in fish sausage and tossed me right into the pit of starving cats repeatedly. Even as I begged him not to. "Damn fat panda. Now I feel like frying him with a fireball or something." Ranma growled out as a fiery aura appeared around her. Washu's eyes widened at the fact that this child was subjected to that horror by her own father before the age of 10. Maybe she could use a new guinea pig...

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In the kitchen, a certain blue-haired, twin pony-tailed girl was shocked to hear about how her new friend was abused like that back then. For the second time in the last two days, Sasami discovered that she was capable of actually hating a person with a passion. With her mind made up, the young princess decided that if she ever met this Genma Saotome, that she would teach him a lesson. Either that, or inform Jurai about the man. Child abuse WAS considered quite a severe offense.

Hidden from view, Katsuhito Masaki's eyes blazed in rage. 'That no good thief actually trained a child in that damned thing. He used to be such a good man. I guess training under that blasted Happosai broke his mind. I know two people who are going to be in a whole world of pain if I ever see them again. That, I promise.'

On Ranma's lap, a certain cabbit was seething in anger. Her new friend was abused by this Genma person that dared consider himself a father. If she ever came across the beast, he'll face the business end of a laser from a cabbit spaceship.

Eavesdropping from her place on the ceiling, Ryoko was thinking the exact same thing as everyone else. Although her mind was wondering if she'd get in trouble for gutting the bastard.

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"Achoo! Achoo! Achoo! Achoo! Achoo! Achoo!" Sneezed a certain fat man as an intense chill ran down his spine. Causing him to pause in his eating. Across

the table, his wife glanced at him and noticed the shiver.

"Sounds like you somehow got on the bad side of the wrong people, husband. From the sound of those sneezes, it's a lot of people too." She slightly wondered if it was anyone Ranma met. Her former child sure gets around and can somehow gather both allies and enemies with ease.

"I hope it's just a case of being sick. If not, then I think a... training trip would be in order until it all blows over." Stated the fat man as he went back to his eating. His wife just rolled her eyes. Wondering if she should inform him of a small miracle that she thought impossible.

'Hm... maybe wait a while.' Nodoka thought to herself as she rubbed her belly. 'This time around, things are going to be done right. Not my fault we both ended up getting drunk..'

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Washu grabbed both of Ranma's shoulders and looked the smaller girl in the eyes. "Ranma, you are one of the luckiest people I have ever met. Maybe you do generate chaos greater than any other person, but you have got to have the most ungodly luck in history to have survived through the chaos you bring. Be lucky you have the physical body of a two-year-old. Otherwise I'd use you as a guinea pig." Laughed out the eccentric scientist. The last sentence caused Ranma to sweat, and four eavesdroppers to almost face fault.

'Well, at least this two-year-old body is good for something.' Deadpanned the two-year-old to herself. Her eyes then brightened. What was crab-hair's name again. She said it was... oh yeah. "Washu-chan, you said you'd help me get the hang of my abilities, right? Could you first help me with that phasing? teleporting, and the flying without magic stuff?"

"Sure Ranma-chan!" She ignored the twitch in Ranma's eye. "First up is flying. Close your eyes, search around for your sense of gravity, use your energy to mold it around, and send the energy downward. That's the best I could do to explain it."

The tiny redhead did as she was told and searched. She didn't have a dang clue to what she was looking for. After several minutes of constant searching, she suddenly found a small bit of energy she never noticed before. It felt kind of like a heavy and dense sphere. Concentrating, she molded the 'sphere as best she could. Not sure HOW to mold it, she willed it into a cone shape. Grabbing a hold of it, the redhead forcefully pushed it downwards. The next thing she knew, her body was rocketed up and her head hit a rafter. The martial artist/sorceress-in-training encountered darkness for the third or fourth time in two days.

Washu stared at the downed child and then looked towards the cieling. "Ryoko, can the laughter and take her upstairs to bed." After her 'daughter' disappeared with her new student, the redheaded scientist sat down on the couch and rubbed an oncoming headache. "This is going to take some time. Just what have I gotten myself into?"

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Meanwhile in the forest near the Dragon Slave crater, a mysterious figure was crouching down and examining the thing. He was on a vacation to Japan and felt a strong magical outburst yesterday and decided to investigate. Straightening up, it can be seen that it was an old man. He was tall and thing with graying long hair and beard. His twinkling blue eyes were hidden behind a pair of half-moon glasses. He had an air of power around him that was dwarfed by a calm and peaceful demeanor. He chose to visit Japan on his vacation because he always found it an interesting place. A hustle and bustle for all things strange and exciting. The landscapes were beautiful, the people were interesting, and the snacks quite tasty.

Sticking some strawberry pocky in his mouth, Albus Dumbledore checked the crater a little more. Some powerful magic was the cause of this. Strong black magic by the feel of it. Not often in his life had he seen such an impression. Whatever it was that caused it must be fierce. Sensing around, the aged wizard could feel something coming from the house and shrine just outside of the clearing. The feeling was one of power, but not evil. A feeling which he had before. About a little over a half a year ago.

"Why do I suddenly feel that this will be the start of some headaches to come?" The question wasn't asked to anyone particular. Several people around the world had to ask the same question.

xxA.Nxx

This was a fun chapter. I don't know why, but it was just fun. Until a little while ago, I was unsure how I'd start chapter four. I knew things for chapters after that, but chapter four was an unknown to me. I'm now thinking that chapter four should most likely consist of Ranma figuring out her abilities and being put under the guidance of Washu.

Dumbledore also decides to drop by and investigate the power he felt. Headaches abound for the Wizard and Scientist.

I'm having a slight problem though of remembering how each of the residents of the Masaki household call Katsuhito. Mostly Sasami. I can't remember how she refers to him.


	4. Settling In

Wild Magic

Ranma 1/2, Slayers, and any other series used in this fanfic are owned by their respective creators/publishers/whatever

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Chapter 4

Chibi Lina was running as if she was being chased by fear itself. To the young child, it wasn't that far from the truth. Nobody else understood it, or they pretended not to. They all thought it was just her childish mind getting the better of her. Looking all around her, the red-eyed girl dove behind some boxes. Maybe it'll all blow over if she waited.

"Liiiiiiinnnnaaaaaa…" A seemingly disembodied voice spoke from all around the area. The fear in Lina's being intensified, and her heartbeat began to pound faster and faster. It was almost as if was threatening to burst out of her small chest.

'Please no. Let me be safe here." Her eyes started to tear at the sound of soft footsteps echoing. The sound began getting louder and louder at each second that past by. Not being able to take it anymore, the young redhead bolted from behind the boxes. The boxes tumbled to the ground on the damn ground.

"You can't hide Linaaaaaa." The frightened girl could just hear the amusement in the voice. Turning a corner, she found it was a dead end. As the footsteps came closer and closer, all the terrified Inverse could do was to sit down and hug her knees as the reason for her fear entered the mouth of the alley.

"I… it was just a childish prank. Why can't you just forgive me and forget it ever happened!? I've apologized s… so many times as best I could." Lina sniffled out as the light illuminated the figure in front of her to revile an older girl of just a few years older. The bangs of her violet hair prevented one from seeing her eyes due to the shadows. A sinister smile spread across her face as she looked down at the petrified girl.

"That would be too easy, and you wouldn't learn any valuable lessons, sister. What you did was not just a child prank. You humiliated me in front of everyone. You think I can take that lightly? Now let's get going. The 'fun' can't start without you, now can it?" Grabbing the younger girl's hand, she began dragging the petrified redhead to a place where she could… teach her the life lessons she so needed.

"P… please no, Luna! Stop! I'm sorry! I've already learned my lesson! Wait a minute. Where are you taking me? No, not that, anything but that. No… no… no…."

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"NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" Ranma screamed as she bolted up from her impact induced sleep. Ryo-Ohki, who was resting on the covers to keep her new friend company, was thrown off the bed. The cabbit managed to catch herself in mid and look worriedly at the redhead who was breathing at a quick rate. She also appeared to be sweating profusely, and her eyes looked as if she saw hell. "W… what was that? Was it a memory from Lina's life? Th… that sadistic bitch was my…. her older sister?" As she went back through the memory again, the two-year-old's stomach began to feel ill. What's worse, she knew what the older inverse was going to do.

The scream was apparently loud enough to alert the entire household. Since the bedroom door slammed open to reveal several worried individuals. A few, such as Tenchi with the Tenchi-ken ready, were in battle mode. This logic would make sense, seeing how many times that Random attacks and all happened. "What happened, Ranma?!" The raven-haired teen asked in concern.

The assembled group were worried at the seemingly shell shocked expression on the newest guess to the Masaki household. Her body was stiff, and her eyes had a far away look to them. Sasami was the first to act and walk towards the child. "Ranma-chan?" There was no response. "Are you ok, Ranma-chan." There wasn't even a twitch to the usage of 'chan'. Her eyes turned to the aged form of her half-brother. "What's wrong with her, grandfather?" The young princess asked as she started to fill with worry.

The 'elderly' Shinto Priest stepped forward and examined the two-year-old. After a few seconds, Katsuhito turned to the blue-haired girl. "From the look on her face, it appears that whatever happened caused great fear. It must have been great."

"You have no idea." A small voice suddenly supplied from the redhead. The sudden life in the girl startled Katsuhito and Sasami. Causing them to jump back and uncharacteristically fall onto their behinds. "Sorry about that." Ranma said scratching the back of her head. A large growling noise suddenly filled the small room, causing the two-year-old's face to go a little red. "Ah! I haven't eaten anything since breakfast yesterday morning!" Everyone in the room sweat dropped at the sudden change in moods that overtook the room. Sasami, on the other hand, broke out giggling.

"We were all just about ready to eat breakfast. You weren't out that long, so you didn't miss anything, Ranma-chan." It was then discovered that everybody was looking at a blank spot on the bed as a gust of wind brushed past everyone on its way down the hall and stairs. Mihoshi was the first to recover.

"Wow, you think she's hungry?" Everyone just stared at her for making such an obvious question.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When the other members of the household joined the two-year-old, they asked about her scream that occurred just a few moments ago, and her odd state of shock. Said child waved it off as just a simple nightmare and nothing more.

"It must have been a lot more than a 'simple' nightmare if it caused you to scream out in pure fear." Katsuhito said in concern. Sasami herself has had visions in the form of nightmares, so if the smaller girl had the same thing, it would help quite a bit.

"I'm not afraid of anything old man." Ranma snapped quickly, and then turned her head. "It was just a small memory from two lives ago." Three of the residents were confused about the 'two lives ago' comment, until two of them remembered what that Xellos guy said. The other, a certain blonde, had to think a little bit longer. "Why don't we just eat? Don't want the food to get cold." The redhead stated as she dug into the food.

"She certainly has a… healthy appetite." Ayeka commented dryly as they watched the redhead gobble up food as if it were her last meal. 'She certainly does not appear to have any table manners. Looks like I'll have to rectify that. Don't worry Ranma-chan, I'll teach you how to grow up to be a proper lady.' A small sinister laugh escaped from the older princess's mouth, causing everyone, except a busy two-year-old, to look her way nervously. They all had an idea of what that laugh was about, and they all prayed for her target's safety.

"I'm glad Ranma-chan told me that she eats a lot of food." The twin pony-tailed princess said watching the younger child. She was actually amused by the antics of the new girl. It did make her feel a little green when Ranma appeared to just swallow some of it whole though. A giggle almost escaped her when the new guest sat back and patted her stomach.

"That was the best meal I had in a long time! You're the best Sasami, thanks!" A small blush found its way on Sasami's face. She knew people liked her cooking, but they never outright told her what they thought, The Juraian princess beamed at the younger child.

"Thank you, Ranma-chan." Ignoring the 'chan' remark, Ranma hopped off the chair she was sitting on.

"Time I get back to getting the hang of that flying, inta… intanga…"

"Intangibility." Washu supplied with a smirk.

"Yeah, that. I need to do the teleporting thingie too. Just to make sure I don't knock myself out again, I'm going outside. I've had enough sleep already." The two-year-old mumbled out as she proceeded to her destination. Ryoko's eyes, meanwhile, started to shine.

"This should be fun to watch. The pipsqueak has proven too entertaining. He he." Everyone watched as the cyan-haired space pirate vanished. Washu, however, brought about her computer to do a small routine scan around the surrounding area. Just incase there was any possible dangers lurking out there. Her eyes scanned an extra energy signal that wasn't in her records.

'Hmm… what's this? Maybe it'll prove interesting.'

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Albus Dumbledore examined the house in front of him. His curiosity as to what was going on around the area was piqued when he felt the oddly familiar magical signature fluctuate rapidly. The aged professor wondered the best course of action. Investigate, or sit back and see what happens. His decision was cemented when the door to the house opened, and out came… a child of around two with scarlet hair with a pair of cat ears of the same color resting on top. A long fuzzy scarlet tail was swishing back and forth behind her. Wait… cat ears and tail? That was a strong oddity indeed.

Dumbledore was put to shock again when an older woman, age unknown, but looked to be almost 20, appeared above the door and proceeded to make herself comfortable. At first, the vacationing wizard thought it was apparition. That idea sunk when he remembered there was not even a sound with her arrival. There was also the fact that she was sitting in a comfortable seating position in mid-air. A humorous thought ran along his mind.

'And here Aberforth was telling me Japan would provide a relaxing vacation and be uneventful. Japan is FAR from uneventful from what I've seen. I need to remind myself to not take vacation advice from my brother.' He continued to watch as the young two-year-old took flight after a little while of concentration. She lacked control at first, but with the help of the cyan-haired woman, who started speaking to her, the cat-eared girl was soon in control and slowly flying to and fro. Said child also started doing tricks and spinning as she flew, seemingly enjoying a great deal while throwing punches and kicks at an unseen opponent.

The spiky cyan-haired woman's mouth started moving again. If only he wasn't so far away, he could understand what was being said. Dumbledore was concerned when the redhead turned towards the ground and shot headfirst towards it. She was going to be in a serious need of medi… she just flew THROUGH the ground! Her form came back out a few seconds later.

'Fascinating.' The elderly wizard watching the scene thought. He was finally surprised a third time when, after following the older woman's advice, the girl disappeared from view and appeared a little ways away. This was not apparition. It was too simple… too quiet.

"Enjoying the show?" Dumbledore nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden voice that came from behind him. How could he be so careless to let someone sneak up on him. Making sure his wand was in a spot he could grab quickly if things turned ugly, the silver-haired wizard turned around. His shock was even more profound when the one who snuck up on him appeared to be a girl of about 12 with spiky red hair that almost looked like a crab in front. Her green eyes held intelligence far beyond her, even his, years. Those same eyes seemed to twinkle, as if they were witness to a joke she chose not to share. He was so shocked at the matter that he missed what the girl said.

"Pardon?" Dumbledore asked, hoping the girl would say what she said again. It was a good thing he decided to study Japanese about 40 years ago. Said redhead rolled her eyes before continuing.

"I said 'Who are you and why are you hiding in the bushes spying on our humble home? I expect to hear the whole truth. No abridged nonsense." Her eyes seemed to twinkle more with the use of 'humble', and then narrow at the end part of the sentence. The elderly wizard figured it would be a good idea to bow to the girl in front of him.

"My sincerest apologies miss. My name is Albus Dumbledore. When I felt a strong wave of power sometime late last night, I thought the best course of action was to investigate. When I got here, I found a large crater, and a leftover of what felt like dark magic. I was able to feel the power coming from that house. Before I could come to a conclusion on a course of action, that young child came outside, followed by the older woman. I was shocked to see such abilities in action." The half-moon spectacled man finished. Hoping the young woman wouldn't be hostile. Her stern face suddenly gave way to a small smile.

"You know what? I like you. You have an air of intelligence about you, as well as eyes that shine with an inner amusement. As if you're often quick to know what's going on, and can plan two steps ahead when you figure it out. You also seem to possess quite a bit of magical prowess." At the man's shocked expression, Washu's smile turned into a smirk. "I scanned your presence while I was in the house. The scanning depicted that the power you control is magical in nature, instead of physical or spiritual." She then folded her arms in front of her. "Now don't look so surprised. After all, I AM the greatest scientific genius in the whole universe." She said breaking off into a maniacal laughter.

Dumbledore was seriously wondering if he treaded into something that he shouldn't have. 'Yes… no more vacation advice from Aberforth again.' His thoughts were interrupted when the small girl grabbed onto his cloak sleeve and began dragging him.

"Come with me, Dumbledore-san. You don't want to be rude and leave without meeting everyone, do you?" As she was dragging the elderly wizard, Washu's eyes suddenly got an odd gleam in them that would make everyone in the house, but one who did really know anything, run in fear.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Not bad pipsqueak. You're getting the hang of your abilities. You still have a long ways to go, but it's a start. You may even be a challenge for me someday." Ryoko commented as she sat cross-legged in mid-air. Ranma glared at her due to the pipsqueak comment, but then smirked.

"Well, you're not half bad at helping, ugly. Don't worry your wrinkled head. I'll get the hang of it all soon, and then we'll have a rematch. You'll be eating those words of yours." Both stared at each other, daring the other to make a move first. Their concentration was disrupted as Washu came up to them dragging some man with a long graying beard and hair. The guy looked familiar for some reason, but she couldn't place it. "Who's the old guy, Washu-chan?" The older redhead pointed to the guy next to her.

"Apparently your show of power yesterday with the Dragon Slave attracted his interest, and he was also watching you demonstrate your newly gained abilities." Ranma groaned at the thought of her power attracting more weird people. "Ranma-chan, I'd like you to meet Albus Dumbledore. Dumbledore-san, this is Ranma." The two-year-old's eyes widened at the name. Looking up, she pointed to the wizard.

"I remember you! I met you almost a year ago while my family and I were on a picnic. You were just enjoying a stroll in the woods or something." Ranma announced wide-eyed. 'I remember now. Dad… er… Lucius hates the guy. Just because he's kind and good to non-magical people, 'half-bloods', and 'blood traitors'. The old guy is apparently one of the greatest wizards alive.

Dumbledore examined the child in front of him and finally figured out why the feeling seemed so familiar. About a year ago he came across the Malfoys having a picnic. He was aware of the Malfoy parents' dislike of him, but struck up a conversation anyway. He then congratulated them on their children. This is when he found it odd that the daughter's eyes seemed to hold intelligence that no normal child of that age own. There was also the incredible power that was seeping out of her. Truthfully, it unnerved him, but he didn't dare mention anything for fear that Lucius would end up doing something to harness that power.

Now here she was, very far away from her parents, and in the presence of strange people. She also seemed to have gained a basic grasp on controlling her own power, but it was still rolling off of her on waves. There was something else that was playing through his mind though.

"Lina Malfoy? What are you doing in Japan, and how did you come to get those cat features? As well as those other stunts you did a few minutes ago?"

"Um… would you believe that the ears and tail are fake?" The two-year-old asked, mustering up as much innocence as she could. The look she received was one that asked 'what do you take me for?' "What about that the stunts you saw earlier were opte… optica… eye illusions and that I'm just here to…" Her poor defense crumbled like crazy. 'Maybe I should have tried to act like a normal two-year-old. Maybe I would have gotten past the old guy.' The young redhead sighed and raised her hands in surrender.

"Alright… you got me. I'll tell you. Jeez, I really need to figure out a cover story for the cat stuff. Maybe a spell backfire or something…"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Fascinating story indeed, Lina." Dumbledore said as he stroked his long beard. Imagine… actual proof of reincarnation. Sure there have been theories, but none were ever proven. The young child in front of him frowned.

"My name is Ranma."

"It's true that you shouldn't abandon your past self, or selves in this case, but you should also embrace parts of yourself from your current life. As not to confuse people, and needing to explain what you don't want to again. You should also consider that two out of three of your lives have been named Lina. Maybe you would have been called Lina in your past life if you were born a girl as well."

Ranma puffed up her cheeks in annoyance. What the hell is with all these people who try to tell her what they think is best for her to do and crap? Even though she does find a LITTLE logic in what was said, such as using the name Lina when around people to prevent confusion, she will ALWAYS be Ranma. No one will change that. Everyone always tried to force HIM to do what they thought was right for HIM. Screw that. Then that prophesy which was telling HER what to do? Oh, she'll defeat that Voldemort guy. The bastard is in dire need of a good ass kicking, but it won't be for the sake of some stupid prophesy.

Looking towards the elderly man sitting in front of her, the young child responded, "Then how about I start calling you Old Fart? How would you like that?" Dumbledore's eyes twinkled behind his half moon glasses.

"I guess I am getting on in years." The elderly wizard responded with amusement. "This old body of mine will probably last… 14 more years at the most." He laughed out in good humor. "Oh, and Lina."

"What is it, Old Fart?" She didn't hate the guy, he just got under her skin a bit is all.

"Have you been using any form of black or dark magic?" Ranma blinked and thought for a second. From some things she could remember, the Dragon Slave was classified as black magic. There were also a few other vague spell names that were bumping around in her head that she couldn't fully remember. A few of them were dark, a few white, and some… shamanistic if she remembered the word correctly. If only she could completely remember them.

"Yeah, what of it?"

"I think it best that you cease your use of it." The aged wizard said. His eyes were now serious and devoid of the mischievousness just a few moments ago. Ranma could only stare at him for a few seconds until her mind caught up.

"What!? Why should I, Old Fart?" The guy was really starting to piss her off now. Popping out of nowhere and telling her what he thought she should do. 'Soul of Ice, Ranma. Soul of Ice.' The redhead chanted in her head a few times to regain her cool. The room seemed to almost suddenly lower a few degrees. If Dumbledore noticed it, he didn't make any reaction to it, while the normal residents of the household could feel the chill all the way in the next room. The robed man continued.

"Dark and black magic only lead to problems. Many who studied the subject have, themselves, turned to the dark side. Losing their humanity for the power they gain. Many have been driven insane by said power. You seem to be a good person, a little moody perhaps, but a good person altogether. I would hate to see you head down the path that many have been lost." The aged wizard finished, sipping on the tea that Sasami provided. "This is some good tea."

"No." Ranma simply stated. Her Soul of Ice still up.

"Pardon?" Dumbledore asked, slightly confused.

"I will not give up any abilities I have because of some crackpot theory that all those who study it go mad or evil. If what I can grasp from my limited memories of two lives ago, Lina was relatively a good person and even she studied and used black magic. I will never fall in madness or to the 'dark side'. That I promise on my honor as a martial artist and sorceress, and my personal honor is VERY important to me, Old Fart. Besides…" A small smirk formed on her face. "It's not just 'black magic' that corrupts. Regular every day power can corrupt. Take this for example." Ranma's hand disappeared into Dumbledore's stomach.

This action fully shocked the bearded man. "What!?"

Ranma pulled her hand out. "You see Dumbledore-san? Imagine ability like that in the hands of a person who'd be easily corrupted. They'd be able to reach inside the person, grab hold of a vital organ, and crush it. Let's not forget the teleporting and flying you most likely saw earlier. Then there's my Neko-ken. I don't even have to touch a person with a swipe of my hand to possibly cut them into pieces. Sadly though, I currently lack the strength, speed, and skill to REALLY pull anything off." The two-year-old finished, the coldness in her voice chilling the man she's speaking to.

Sitting back, the child continued. "Perhaps you should search the background of my past life, Ranma Saotome. Maybe then you could get an idea. Because all I had back then was martial arts and I pulled off several things, and experienced many things, that were almost unbelievable." Sighing, Ranma shook her head.

"Dumbledore-san, my personal honor is one of the most important things to me. I would rather die before I go against my own honor. If I swear that I will not be seduced to the 'dark side', or driven insane, then I STAND by it. Do you understand, Dumbledore-san?" The coldness in the voice and the depth of coldness in those eyes, eyes that had a somewhat haunting, battle scarred look, sent chills down the spine of the Headmaster of Hogwarts. The eyes finally softened. "Do not tell me what I can and can not do, Dumbledore-san, especially when you don't have a clue as to who you are talking to. You are neither a parent nor teacher to me."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Maybe I'm imagining things, but does Ranma seem like she's smarter all of a sudden?" Washu asked curiously. In the short time she knew the two-year-old, the redheaded scientist noticed that she had intelligence, and had the potential to put it to great use. She was just a little… lacking in education, and she sometimes wore her emotions on her sleeve. Now there she was, almost devoid of emotion, and able to express her words clearly.

"Washu-chan, you think it has something to do with the sudden drop in temperature?" Sasami asked curiously as she sat in a warm coat and hat. Katsuhito's glasses gleamed in the light.

"If I'm not mistaken, what Ranma-chan is using would be the Soul of Ice. A technique developed long ago to suppress one's emotions, and to focus their mind on the task at hand." The assembled group digested the information. It seemed to make sense.

"Wow, you're so smart Grandfather." Sasami said with a smile. "Did you encounter the same thing long ago?" The elder Masaki just chuckled.

"Actually, I was just guessing. It all seemed to be the most logical reason." Following this confession, the group sustained a painful face fault. The humble Shinto priest secretly smiled. 'It fills my heart with joy to tease them like that. I should probably be ashamed of myself, but I'm not.'

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma's ear twitched with what just transpired in the next room. 'That actually makes sense, old man, even if you were guessing. Hopefully this will end soon, because my mind can't take it any longer.'

"Well," Dumbledore began, if a little shaky. "There is a high possibility that when you turn 11 years of age, you'll be accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The school that I'm a headmaster of." The two-year-old's eyebrow raised.

"I imagine by the time I'm 11, I will probably have more control over my magic than even the oldest student there. I see no reason why I would waste my time." School of any form was something she was going to try and avoid, especially the younger grades. The man in front of her continued.

"Well, if your grades at the end of the seven years are excellent, then you could get a good magical career."

"Like what? Pulling a rabbit out of a hat?" The redhead asked with a smirk. There can't be much out there that would put her skills to good use with this… magical education crap.

"No, I was thinking more along the lines of an Auror."

"Huh? Whazzat?" Ranma asked intelligently. That's a weird name for a job. A kind of name that sounds like it's a person who reads auras. "How would a job reading auras put my skills to use, Old Fart?"

"Actually, Lina, the Aurors are an elite unit in charge of tracking down dark and dangerous individuals. You can say that they are the protectors against those who wish to harm the innocent. The training is quite rigorous. One is expected to train extensively in advanced magical fighting. Only a select few make it through, while countless others fail to meet up to the expectations. It's considered quite difficult and dangerous. Only those with the skill and determination can prevail, but seeing as you have no interest in…" He was interrupted when the redhead he was talking to jumped off her seat and stared at the seated wizard right in the eyes, just inches from his, her eyes blazing with unseen fire.

"I have said it many times, and I will say it again. It is a martial artist duty to protect those who can't protect themselves. To do all they can in their power to prevent innocent people from harm." Dumbledore smiled. The girl unnerved him a bit, but she had a heart of gold. Great things could likely be expected of her.

"You have an excellent character, Lina. Although I will say you do have a bit of a temper, and a slight rebellious attitude that could put you in possible danger. That is shown through your slight disrespect" Ranma's face made a small pout. "However your honor, determination, and courage make up for it." He figured the child would make a great Gryffindor, although she also displayed some traits that were more than welcomed in Slytherin. Time would only tell where she would end up, but he expected that wherever she ended up, those houses would be turned on their heads. He could also see himself having many headaches.

"Thank you, Old Fart." The redhead said with a smile. The guy wasn't bad, although she was still going to call him Old Fart. She watched as he reached into a pocket and pulled out a small bag. "Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans? I think I've heard the name once." Reaching in, the two-year-old pulled out a yellowish bean with green spots. Her eyes widened after popping it in her mouth. "Okonomiyaki?"

"The treat contains every flavor imaginable. I'm not very fond of them, for I came across a vomit flavored bean in my youth." Ranma suddenly choked on the bean she was eating.

"VOMIT?! That's just sick." Right then and there, Ranma decided to not try another Every Flavor Bean again.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"It was a pleasure meeting you Lina." Dumbledore said as he headed out the door.

"Likewise, Old Fart." Ranma then watched as Washu came running from the other room and headed out the door after the silver-haired wizard. A few seconds later, she came back in seemingly saddened. For what reason, Ranma had no idea.

"Damn, how'd he leave so quickly? He would have made a great guinea pig!!" Sighing, the 20,000-year-old scientist then got a look that frightened everyone, except Ranma who was confused, to the core. "Ooohhhh Tenchiiiii…" The boy in question stiffened before taking off out the door, followed by a crazed scientist. Ryoko gave off a laugh.

"I should be there IF Tenchi manages to get away. He'll need a little comforting." The space pirate tossed a smirk at Ayeka before vanishing. Said princess of Jurai fumed before taking off out the door as well.

"You leave Tenchi alone, Monster Woman!"

"W… wait! It could be dangerous out there!" A certain Galaxy Police officer yelled as she, too, ran out the door.

Ranma sat there on the sofa. Her mind trying to register just what the hell happened. It vaguely reminded of her past life, but weirder somehow. The complete thought of that happening again sent chills down her spine. Her eyes then turned to Katsuhito, Sasami, and Ryo-Ohki. "At least you three seem to be sane." The redhead deadpanned. A video game controller was suddenly thrust into her hands as Sasami sat next to her

"Would you like to play a video game, Ranma-chan?" Ranma looked blankly at her, and then down to the thing in her hands. She remembered people talking about video games, but that was before she died. Even then she never took the time to figure out exactly what they were.

"I've never played video games before." Sasami started pointing out how the controller works, and which button was which. "I think I'm starting to understand, but there's so many buttons!" As the pony-tailed girl continued trying to get her new friend to understand how to operate a video game, Katsuhito sighed.

"Ah to be a child again without having to have any worries." He then chuckled to himself as he walked away from the two younger people on the couch conversing about video games. He loved putting up the old and wistful man act at times.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma was actually getting along well at the Masaki household. Just like the other guests before her, she came to be like a member of the 'extended family'. One of the few things that got under her skin was when they would forget that she WAS older than two. It's just… that her current physical age was two, not her mental age.

Then there's Ayeka. That girl has some weird thing about making the two-year-old grow up to be a proper lady. Like hell she'd let little Miss Princess do that to her. Just thinking of the first time the purple-haired Juraian tried that caused shivers down the redhead's spine. At least she learned her lesson once she was on the receiving end of a fireball.

Washu was a strict teacher when it came to the two-year-old. The older redhead knew Ranma was capable of learning things easily. It was just mostly limited to things that interested the former boy. Any other time, the girl would try and fall asleep. Every time the scientist started explaining something, or had Ranma read, she'd fall asleep. Because of this, Washu decided to punish her pupil. Whenever she went to asleep or lost focus, she would have to sit on a giant ice cube in just her underwear. Sadly, that didn't prevent the smaller redhead from falling asleep. It was then that Washu's mind formulated an idea from monitoring the child's attitude.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (**Flashback**)

Looking at her new student sitting there on a block of ice, Washu shook her head. "Ranma, Ranma, Ranma. This is the what number of time that you have had to sit on that? 13? 14?" Glaring at her teacher, the two-year-old shivered. Cursing herself and mumbling about how it wasn't her fault it was all so boring.

"I c… c… can't help it. E… everyth… thing is so b… boring. It's n… not like I'm b… being challenged b… by someone wishing t… to defeat me." Ranma finished, her teeth chattering fiercely. The sudden smile on the diminutive scientist's face disturbed the martial artist/sorceress.

"Then this calls for a challenge. Unless you don't think you'd be able to handle it."

"I can handle anything!" The frozen child said before catching herself. 'Damn it.'

"Good, then this is my challenge to you, Ranma-chan. I challenge you to learn everything I teach you, and I mean everything. No falling asleep or spacing off during lessons. There will be weekly tests. If you fail to at least score 90 on these tests, then I will place a limiter choker on you. This would limit your abilities to that of a normal two-year-old. Meaning no martial arts ability, no sorcery, no ki, none of your masu abilities, and your senses from the Neko-ken dulled. The limiter will stay in place until you pass the next test. If you fail that one, then the same thing happens." Ranma began to get pale

"Y… you can't b… be serious!" She actually knew the 20,000-year-old scientist was very serious about what she said, and she WOULD do it. Said scientist suddenly got a fake inquisitive look.

"Oh, so you're going to admit defeat?" Ranma clenched her teeth in anger, and then let out a long sigh.

"No Washu-sensei."

"What was that again?"

"-sigh- No _oh great and all intelligent_ Washu-sensei." 'Damn this lady is full of it. I think I bit off more than I could chew this time.'

"That's a good student." Washu said as she patted the younger girl on the head. "Oh, and you can get off that ice now. I should have told you a few minutes ago, but… it kind of slipped my mind."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (**End Flashback**)

Shaking her head at the memory, Ranma went back to reading the current book 'History of the Universe Vol. 1 of… 1000, Series 1'. Why the hell would she need to learn all this crap? It's been three weeks since the challenged was started. The first week's test netted her a 50, which meant goodbye to everything she had until the next test. That sucked greatly. Even more so when Ryoko found out and started toying with her.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (**Flashback**)

Ryoko was floating around a severely powerless Ranma as said youth was fuming on the couch. "Awww, so the little pipsqueak is all riled up because she's now about as dangerous as any normal two-year-old human. You're so cute." The masu woman taunted as she began pinching the girl's cheeks. Slapping the hand away, she turned to the older woman.

"Would you cut that out you thick legged monster?!" The look she received was one of shock, and then it turned sinister.

"It looks like the little brat needs a spanking." Wide-eyed, Ranma hopped off the couch and began running as fast as her diminished abilities allowed her to with a crazed masu quick on her heals. A plan formed in her mind when she saw Tenchi. Jumping behind the raven haired boy, she put on a look of a frightened child. After all, when you are back to two-years-old, have lost all of your special abilities, have frequently had moments of random childish two-year-old behavior, what better way to get out of danger than to appeal to another person's sense of justice? Especially when said person is an object of affection for the person chasing you.

Willing tears to come to her eyes, the former Saotome latched onto Tenchi's leg with a scared look and started to cry. The teenaged boy looked sternly at Ryoko with his arms crossed. "Ryoko, you **_know_** that she currently has none of her abilities. She may have the intelligence of an adult, but she has the body and mind of a two-year-old. Without her abilities, she has nothing to protect herself with, and is most likely scared."

"B… but she…" Ryoko tried to respond, but the look Tenchi gave her made her feel like SHE was the bad guy here. Looking to the tiny redhead, Ryoko sighed, gave a reluctant apology, and vanished.

"Thanks, Tenchi." Ranma said with a hidden smile.

"No problem Ranma. It's as you have said a few times around here. It's a martial artist's duty to help those who can't protect themselves. Grandfather teaches me a form of swordsmanship. They may not be the same, but they're similar in function in a way. I have to get going now, bye." The teen said as he left.

'Hmm…. He reminds me of myself. A bit too much actually. I wonder if we were related somehow in my previous life. Ah well, can't dwell on that.' Her thoughts then centered on Ryoko. 'He he… first victim of the Inverse Secret Attack #1: Damsel in Distress. Not usable if I ever get my male form back, but it works non-the-less.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (**_End Flashback)_**

After the week was up and she got her abilities back, the first thing she did was introduce Ryoko a newly acquired Mono Volt. However, the former space pirate seemed to actually enjoy it, so much for a little fun at getting her back. After her 'week of being helpless', the Redhead managed to get the choker off, and keep it that way for the time being. 'Not going to go through that again, no way, no how.' She thought to herself in determination.

Ranma's eyes then traveled to the large lavender egg sitting on the table sitting next to her. Washu apparently thought it would be good for her to have a companion. Similar to how Ryoko has Ryo-Ohki. It's not like she needed one, but the eccentric scientist told her it would be a good thing. She'd have a friend she could communicate with at a telepathic level, and only she would be able to understand the thing. With her luck, the thing would probably be able to talk and have an attitude.

Speaking of Washu again, the green-eyed woman also provided her with a place she could practice her martial arts and magic safely. The place consisted of a large holographic area that simulated many environments. She also received a small belt that could change the gravity of her body with just the inclusion of her ki and magic. The only problem is that her two-year-old body was still weak to do a bunch of things, so she'd probably have to wait a few years to even attempt it.

She also managed to test out her newly enhanced senses from the Neko-ken, and hide her ears and tail for at least an hour. In pitch darkness, her eyes could make out the shapes of objects, while her ears could pick up, if she focused on them, the sound of soft snoring upstairs. Her sense of smell? Well, let's just say that going to the bathroom right someone who had to go REALLY bad was not pretty.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx **(Flashback)**

Opening the bathroom door, Ranma's nose became aflame in agony. That agony then turned to blissful sleep as the two-year-old's vision faded.

It would take a whole day for her to recover.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx **(End Flashback)**

"That could be a problem if I don't figure out how to get around it." Her thoughts drifted to visiting her former mother, Nodoka, in a few days. From a letter she got from her, it mentioned something about her being extremely happy about something. What it was, the redhead didn't know.

Visiting her former mother meant that she'd also have to visit her current, however. It was something Nodoka said she should do. Because if she herself felt lonely and sad when her own child was away from home with no communication, then imagine how Narcissa must feel.

Narcissa wasn't too bad, if you could get past her snobbish and bigoted personality. It's just that she acts so high and mighty to all those outside the family, and even worse to those who aren't of pure blood. A large turn-off if you ask Ranma. She also wondered what the woman would think of the cat ears and tail. She told Nodoka in a letter about them, and the Saotome matriarch really wanted to see them.

She figured out a convenient cover story for them to tell people who end up seeing them, At least those in the magic world. The story is that it was a small magical mishap that became permanent, and that they actually help her and not slow her down. Don't know how many will believe that, but it's worth a shot. As for people in the non-magical world, eh, she'll figure something out.

Closing the history book, Ranma gave off a yawn. It was getting late, and she should really get to bed. Grumbling about heavy textbooks and too much reading, the two-year-old picked up the lavender egg and headed upstairs for bed.

xxA.N.xx

I can't decide if I should skip ahead a few years, or continue with the current time while breaking into short time skips, and explaining what is and has happened. Time skip would probably be better.


	5. Shopping for supplies

Wild Magic

Ranma 1/2, Slayers, and any other series used in this fanfic are owned by their respective creators/publishers/whatever

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Chapter 5

An 11-year-old redhead with eyes mixed with red and blue was scratching her head in confusion. On her head was a large fleece-knit beanie hat to cover her cat ears, and her cat tail was wrapped around her waist (An idea she got a long time ago after watching that one show about the super powerful space martial artists. She really liked that show, but it seemed a little over the top.). She could've hid the things, but it required some energy to keep them hidden. Better to conserve her energy for when she really needed to hide them.

Her current task was trying to find her way amongst the London streets to a place called the Leaky Cauldron, which would then let her to get to some place called Diagon Alley. "I must be channeling Ryoga. If only I were more familiar with this stupid city. Washu's computerized maps would be helpful right now, but she's too busy visiting Jurai with Tenchi and the others. It would also have been nice if the person who sent me the letter and all could have come to show me the way instead of give me directions." A small voice from behind her hair spoke up

"Don't worry, you'll figure it out." The small voice of her cabbit, Laira, responded. The lost 11-year-old knew guessed right all those years ago that the dang thing would probably be able to talk It wouldn't have been THAT bad if it wasn't for the fact the little red furred creature called her 'momma' on several occasions. It was the first thing she shouted when hatching.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx **(Nine years ago)**

"The egg's hatching!" Ranma announced as she held the lavender colored egg in her hands. It took a little while longer than Washu thought it would to hatch. After a few seconds, the top of the egg cracked open, and a small red and furry head with big lavender eyes peeked out. The cabbit looked at her for a few seconds before…

"Hi, Momma!" The assembled group sweat dropped at the little creature that was able to talk. Ranma's eye twitched for a second.

'Momma? What the hell?' "Who are you calling momma?!" The two-year-old nearly shrieked at the newly born cabbit. Her glare then turned to a look of shame when the small creature's eye began to tear up. "Wait, don't cr…"

"WHAAA, Momma hates me. Y… you were so kind to me when I was in the e… egg, K… keeping me warm and s… safe. H… helping me grow with y… your energy." The furry red creature whined as it hopped out of the egg shell and attached itself to Ranma's shirt, crying.

Washu walked up and slapped the child on the back of her head. "Ranma, that cabbit is very young, and you are virtually her parent. As she is so young, she needs a lot of care. Are you going to ignore her just because of what she said just after hatching?" The younger redhead looked at the older for a few seconds before sighing in defeat. She was too young to be a parental figure, damn it. That and she didn't have a clue.

"I'm sorry that I yelled at you. I was just shocked is all." Figuring the best thing to do would be to hug the small creature, Ranma did just that. The big lavender eyes looked up at her.

"Do I have a name?" Ranma sweat dropped. She thought the thing would come with a name, and that she didn't have to think of one. After several seconds of thinking, a name came to her.

"How's Laira?"

"I love it momma!" The redhead was suddenly pushed onto her butt from the force of a happy newborn cabbit. Her eye then twitched at being called 'Momma' again. Turning her head to the group around her, she then growled.

"If any of you laugh, you'll be sorry." Sadly, the growl from a two-year-old, flat on her butt, being cuddled by a tiny cabbit calling her 'momma' was difficult to NOT laugh at. "You all suck."

"Grandma Washu doesn't though, momma."

"GRANDMA!?" Washu yelled in shock and indignation. She wasn't old enough for that yet. The smug look Ranma was sending her way caused the genius to start thinking up a few punishments for the little redheaded brat.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I suppose you're right, Laira." The redhead stopped for a second while looking at a sign in front of her. "Charing Cross Road… the Leaky Cauldron should be somewhere around here." A gruff voice suddenly spoke up from behind her.

"Did yah say Leaky Cauldron?" Ranma spun around quickly, berating herself for being so lost in thought that she didn't notice anyone behind her. Her spin almost caused Laira to go flying. Both pairs of eyes went wide as they had to look up to see the face of a large man with shaggy black hair and large black beard. Shaking the shock out her mind, the redhead also saw a boy of about 11 next to the large man. He had messy black hair and emerald green eyes hidden behind a pair of glasses, and would look normal if it wasn't for the odd fitting clothes he was wearing.

"Err, yeah" The dual eye colored child started, getting over her shock. "These directions I have tell me that I can get to Diagon Alley through the Leaky Cauldron. Stupid idiots should have sent someone to show me around. I'm not all that familiar with London." She finished, hoping she could get SOME help from these two. The large man looked at her for a second before giving a smile, which was hard to see behind his large beard.

"Yah can follow us then. Harry here doesn't know tha way either." His large hand pointed to the boy next to him, who seemed slightly nervous. Ranma nodded in thanks towards the huge man.

'Harry… that name sounds familiar.' The martial artist/sorceress thought to herself as she followed the pair. Laira answered back to her.

'He's the boy who supposedly defeated that Voldemort guy as a baby, Momma.'

'Oh yeah, now I remember that little story. Everyone believes the bastard is dead. He was probably just weakened or something, and is biding his time until he's powerful enough to return. Why else would I be part of the damn prophesy if I wasn't needed? Also, will you stop calling me Momma?!' She could almost see Laira sticking her tongue out playfully.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

'It's kind of shabby and dark for a popular place.' Ranma thought as she looked around the small tabled area. A sudden commotion broke her thoughts and brought her attention forward. The redhead thought it humorous that the 'Harry' kid was getting so much attention, and that he looked rather lost in it all. "Everyone's going a little wild." She whispered to the large hairy man, who ended up nodding a bit.

"Of course they are. He's famous yah know." The mountain of the man whispered back. "By the way, I never got yer name. The name's Hagrid, Keeper o' the Keys at Hogwarts." Ranma blinked at not knowing what 'Keeper of the Keys' meant, but answered the large man.

"The Name is Lina Malfoy." She hated the name, but felt it was needed to keep up appearances. Her blue/red eyes suddenly caught sight of a terribly nervous man talking to Harry. The guy, Quirrell as he called himself, felt 'off' for some reason.

"So you are the Malfoy daughter who was kidnapped from home by some unknown person, and has been livin' with some lady who rescued you over in Japan." Ranma raised an eyebrow and then nodded. That fake story her 'parents' told everyone about her being kidnapped sure did get around. The Malfoys apparently didn't want anyone to know that they **_let_** some dark being just take their child.

"You really should rescue Harry. He seems to be getting more uncomfortable from the attention." Ranma observed, sensing the nervousness of the boy increase.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After getting into Diagon Alley, which even Ranma thought was neat that the back wall just opened up, the 11-year-old redhead decided to explore by herself. Looking over her list, she was glad that Narcissa would send money to her for her birthdays. She didn't understand the currency, but figured someone would be able to help her with it sooner or later.

"Cat… owl… toad…" She read from her list as she walked on. "I'll skip that."

"It's because I'm better than any of those, right?" Laira asked proudly. Ranma rolled her eyes.

"Someone's getting a bit of an ego." She could almost feel the smirk coming from the lavender eyed creature.

"I guess I do take after you, momma." Ignoring the slight twitch in her eye, the young redhead decided to go for her books first. After looking around for a bit, she came a cross a store called Flourish & Blotts. Looking in the window, Ranma saw that the place was the bookstore she was looking for.

"Ah, here we go." Upon entering the establishment, the martial artist/sorceress proceeded to find the required books she needed from her list. As she looked from one shelf to the other as she made her way down one of the lanes, she almost bumped into someone coming around the corner. "Oops, sorry about that." She stated looking at the person in front of her.

It was a girl, around her age, with long bushy brown hair and brown eyes that held a bit of intelligence. Her front teeth were a little larger than usual, but all in all she looked like a normal person. The two older people behind her must have been her parents, since they shared some resemblance. They also appeared to be slightly nervous as they looked around, as if it being around here was a new experience for them. Her thoughts were interrupted when the girl she nearly bumped into started to speak.

"Oh that's quite alright. I'm just so excited to be around all this magical stuff, and to know that I'm actually a witch. I was quite surprised when I got the letter about going to Hogwarts. My parents didn't know what to think about it all." The couple in back seemed to blush at the little bit of attention they got. "I plan to read and learn everything I can in the books I get before I start school. That way I'll know what I need to know before hand. It always helps to be knowledgeable about everything before the last minute. Oh how rude of me, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Hermione Granger, and these are my parents. They're dentists."

Ranma's eyes started to glaze over a bit at the long windedness of the introduction. For some reason, the whole thing about 'learning' and 'knowledge' made her think about a certain green-eyed genius. Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Ranma introduced herself. "I'm Lina Malfoy, martial artist and… witch-in-training." She'd much rather say sorceress, but felt it would cause a bit of confusion among people. She hated the term 'witch'. It reminded her of that green skinned, long nosed, ugly thing that melted with water in that one movie about a girl, tin man, scarecrow, and lion.

"Oh, what's that cute creature?" The girl in front of her asked, after seeing Laira peek her head out from behind Ranma's head. In a heartbeat, Hermione plucked her from Ranma's shoulder and started cuddling the little cabbit.

"Her name's Laira and she's a cabbit. I've raised her since she was an egg about… nine years ago." The redhead was impressed. Laira was usually shy around new people, opting to hide either behind Ranma's head, or in her clothes, but she seemed to enjoy being held by the bushy haired girl. "She seems to like you… Hermione."

"She's a nice girl, momma." The lavender eyed cabbit said with a giggle. The sudden speech from the creature startled the girl holding her.

"She talks?" Hermione asked in astonishment. She actually expected it to give a small chirp sound or something. Ranma laughed at the expression on her face.

"It actually surprised me too. Especially since the only other cabbit I know of only goes 'myah'. The dang little thing's first words when hatching was 'Hi momma.'" She grumbled as Laira sent her an innocent look.

"But you love me, don't you momma?" She received an exasperated sigh and nod from the 11-year-old redhead, and a giggle from a certain brown haired girl.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After finding and paying for her books, Ranma, accompanied by Hermione and her parents, headed for the next thing that both needed, Robes. Luckily the shop that sells them was right next to Flourish & Botts. As they entered the shop, they were greeted by a smiling, squat witch in mauve robes. "Good day dears. I'm Madam Malkin. Here for your Hogwarts robes?" At the two's nods, Malkin ushered them to the back where they would have their robes fitted.

As Ranma was being fitted for her robe, the witch who was pinning its length looked at her with twinkling eyes. "You're a wee bit shorter than most of the students I've fitted recently, dearie." At the miffed look on the redhead's face, the witch gave off a small cackle.

After obtaining their robes, Ranma and Hermione exited the building. The dual eye-colored girl glared at her newest friend, who was threatening to laugh. "Not one giggle Hermione. I'm warning you." The warning went unheeded as a small giggle escaped the brown haired girl's mouth.

"Sorry Lina, it's just that the look on your face after that witch said you were shorter than most she's had recently was priceless." She managed to stop laughing, but Laira was laughing up a storm herself. The redhead looked at the creature with a half-lidded stare.

"No carrots for a week."

"Aw but mommaaaaa…." Laira whined with big eyes shining with tears, and lip trembling. Ranma, still slightly weak to that very move, sighed deeply.

"Fine, we'll make it a day, and stop calling me momma." The small cabbit shouted in glee and jumped at her somewhat parent, knocking her down, and causing people to stare as they walk by at the strange redhead with an affectionate rabbit... cat… whatever.

The Grangers were off to the side with their daughter. "What have you gotten yourself into, Hermione?" Mr. Granger asked as he glanced towards the downed redhead. Just when he thought things couldn't get any stranger, that girl pops up. His wife slapped him on the shoulder.

"Oh shush dear. I think she's a fine young lady. A little odd in certain ways, but at least she seems nice and has become friends with our daughter. Hopefully she'll make some more friends at that magic school."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The next stop on both of their lists was a place called Ollivanders to get their wands. Ranma wasn't really excited about the thought, mostly because she could do magic without a bloody wand. Although she figured she might as well get one since it was required. Besides, maybe there a few interesting things she could do with one.

As they walked through the entrance door, they found themselves in a dusty and small place that had dim lights, and an eerie calm about it. Not seeing anyone nearby, the redhead stretched out her senses to see if she could feel anyone. She could feel Hermione and her parents easily, as well as another presence, but she couldn't tell where it was coming from, as if it was everywhere.

"Good day to you all." A low voice announced. It came so suddenly out of nowhere that Ranma nearly jumped out of her skin, but did the next best thing… jump and cling to the ceiling. "My, I never got that reaction out of anybody before." The same voice said in amusement.

Looking for the owner of a voice, the 11-year-old redhead spotted a man with white hair and pale eyes. 'How the hell did he sneak up on me?' Dropping back to the floor, she watched as the man slowly walked up and studied her. His long hand slowly reached up and pulled the beanie on Ranma head to reveal her scarlet cat ears. Hermione's eyes widened at the two things poking out of her head.

"Ah, Miss Malfoy, I've been waiting for your visit after your mother and brother came in just a few minutes ago. I see it's true what has been said about you. That you were kidnapped from home at a young age, and received your cat features due to some weird curse placed on you." The calm voice of the old man caused shivers to run down Ranma's spine. "Yes, your brother received a fine wand indeed. Now, let's see what we could do for you. Try this wand here, Birch, 13", dragon scale." Ranma held it in her hand. "Well, give it a small flick." Doing so, there didn't seem to be anything that happened. Ollivander plucked it out of her hand. "No, I guess not. Here's another. Gnome toenail, 12", pine."

Ranma also gave it a flick. For a second, nothing seemed to happen. That was when a small stand outside the shop carrying lawn ornaments exploded. Screams of 'what the hell?!' and 'look out!' were heard as the contents of the small road shop sailed upwards and started falling back down. "Uhhh…." The redhead stated intelligently as she watched debris crash to the ground outside.

A lone gnome statue crashed through the roof of Ollivanders and fell onto a loose floorboard. The stone ball ornament that was on the same board was catapulted across the room, crashing into the wall and going straight onwards and through the wall of the next shop. Sounds of damage and screaming were heard. Silence reined on for a few seconds before Ollivander glanced at the wand in Ranma's hand, and then to the statue embedded into his floor.

"Even as ingredients and statues they're a nuisance." The elderly man took the wand out of the startled redhead's hand and started rummaging through boxes before coming back. "I've had cases like yours before, Miss Malfoy. Cases in which the person was a bit… chaotic with the outcome of wands they tried that didn't belong to them. Sugi, moss from the fabled Yamata no Orochi sprinkled with powdered Dragon Toenail, 15". The Orochi is a dangerous beast. It takes several powerful wizards to even have a chance at getting SOME moss from the beast. Many careless people have lost their lives to it. It's a rather… imposing creature."

"You don't say." The 11-year-old cat-eared girl deadpanned. Receiving the wand in her hand, the redhead's hair and clothes began to flutter around in an unseen wind, and her hand felt oddly warm as she held the instrument. After a few seconds, the wind died down, and Ranma blinked a few times before she gave a flick. Colorful sparks flew out of the end.

"Ah yes, I believe we have a winner. It's a good wand if used correctly. A bit on the average side, but with practice you could do some nice things."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"What's it like having cat ears and tail?" Hermione asked curiously as they finally left Ollivanders. After seeing the things sticking out of her new friend's head, she was able to easily deduce that the furry thing around her waist was a tail.

Ranma thought for a second before answering. "I'm not sure how to explain it. The ears feel like regular ears, except they're higher on my head, and I can move them. They can also reflect my mood in a bit. The tail… it's like an extra arm. I was able to strengthen it to hold onto things, nothing really heavy, just average things. The tail also helps with balance. I can hide the things, but it takes energy to contain. It's like… holding your stomach in for a long period of time. I also need to regain my balance after doing that." She finished, holding a sleeping Laira in her arms

The bushy haired girl nodded in fascination. Her eyes suddenly lit up, "Lina, can you communicate with cats or anything?" The whole subject was absolutely amazing to her. In just one day she'd experienced things that one could only imagine. Her new friend answered her with a nod.

"Cats aren't exactly the most interesting animals to listen to. They mostly just care about sleeping, their next meal, what sort of mischief they can get into, sleeping…"

"Kind of like you, momma." A sleepy voice from her arms said. A growl of annoyance exited Ranma's throat, which all caused Hermione to bust out in laughter. The cat girl's eyes looked skyward.

'What did I ever do to you?' She thought as she walked on. Her eyes looked to the side at a shop they were passing, and they widened. Hermione stopped and looked at the redhead curiously.

"What's wrong Lina?" She watched her new friends hand raise and point to something on the other side of her. Turning around, her brown eyes saw what it was. "Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor?"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I can't believe you at two large ice cream sundaes, Lina." Hermione stated with wide eyes as they walked away from the ice cream shop to continue getting the rest of the things on their lists. "They were huge!" Ranma looked at her and smiled.

"I would have liked to get one or two more, but I think I better save my money for other things I might need. I know there's still a couple or so. I don't need a telescope, because the woman I've been living with got me one." Her thoughts centered onto how Washu decided it would be a good thing to study the stars. Jeez that was boring.

"No, I mean how can you eat all that without getting sick? I doubt I'd ever be able to eat one of those large things by myself, let alone two." Her redheaded companion just shrugged.

"I have a big appetite."

"Still… that can't be healthy. Eating all that could make you sick, and you could gain a lot of weight." Ranma waved it off.

"I burn a lot of it through martial arts. No need to worry." Hermione was about to continue, but sighed. She then gave off a yawn.

"I already got the other stuff on my list earlier, and I think it's time my parents and I get going. See you later, Lina." After saying a few goodbyes, Ranma watched as the Grangers walked away.

"I guess I gained a friend." Ranma said to herself as she began walking to get the other things on her list. "She seemed like a bit of a know-it-all, but was otherwise ok. I wonder what would happen if she'd ever come across Washu." A chill ran up her spine. "Don't want two of them running about. The universe can only handle one… and barely."

xxxA.Nxxx

I think it's a little on the short side, but good none-the-less. Next chapter will involve the ride to Hogwarts and the sorting.


	6. Hogwarts, Say Hi To Ranma

Wild Magic

Ranma 1/2, Slayers, and any other series used in this fanfic are owned by their respective creators/publishers/whatever

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Chapter 6

The month seemed to fly by almost too quickly for Ranma until it was the day of departure. The young redhead managed to convince Washu to accompany her just in case she took some wrong turns.

"Maybe I should work on creating a GPS for you so you'll be able to travel around this city without getting lost." The 20,000-year-old genius said as she and her student ventured towards the train station. Her holographic laptop was floating right in front of her with the mapping of London, earning the pair quite a few stares from _normal_ humans passing by. It was even odder with the small long-eared creature sleeping on the fleece knit beanie of the younger girl. Ranma didn't even notice the stares, as she was engrossed in chat with her teacher.

"Aw come on Washu-sensei. You know you'll miss me while I'm away. What else would you be doing with your time?" The 11-year-old asked with a smirk.

"Probably spend time figuring out more mysteries of the very reality we know it. Alternate realities would be a fun thing to delve more into. There's also the chaos at the Masaki house the enjoy." Truthfully, she'd miss the kid who became like a younger sibling/child to her. The cat eared girl was a challenge to teach. She may be able to pick up things easily, but she was prone to boredom. Ranma gave a small shake to her head.

"I just can't believe how Tenchi is _**STILL**_ having problems deciding on which girl he likes. It's been what… over nine years or so?" Her mind dwelled over the outcome of what would have happened if _**he**_ had to put up with everything in Nerima for over nine years. That was liable to drive _**him**_ into complete insanity.

"They still have all the time in the world, although Tenchi really can be a wimp at times when it comes to girls." The genius then glanced at the beanie hat the younger redhead was wearing, and how her tail was worn. "You do realize that in all the months you're gone, your odd… assets will most likely be made public? Even more so than they apparently are." Ranma looked up to her.

"Of course, I'm not stupid. It's just that I want to delay the inevitable. I'm very well aware that people will show interest in these dang things. I learned that lesson well long years ago."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx _**(Nine years ago)**_

On the day that Ranma was to meet with her former mother, it was decided they would meet up in an ice cream parlor. This was mostly Ranma's idea, seeing as how the redhead was beginning to get a slight sweet tooth. Washu decided to accompany her student. Never having been to one on Earth, she felt now would be the proper time to make experience. That and she also wanted to quiz the child some more on the way. "Quickly, what is the theory of geology that has been created to describe motions of a planet's crust? You have three seconds."

"Plate Tectonics, Washu-sensei!" The difference between getting wrong or right would mean the difference between how much ice cream the crazy scientist would allow her to eat. She was already limited to one scoop, and the two-year-old REALLY didn't want it limited anymore.

As they entered the small ice cream shop, a person behind the counter greeted them. "Good day young lady, and is this your younger sister?" The elderly man behind the counter asked. The two did seem to look alike. The eye color was different, but both had scarlet hair, and a pair of eyes that seemed to hold intelligence that was beyond them. The younger had what he thought were a pair of fake cat ears and a tail. Yet they seemed so natural on her. He couldn't help but stare, something that seemed to suddenly annoy the younger. Shaking his head of the thought, he decided they must be fake or something.

Washu's eyes twinkled as the idea came to her mind. "Why yes sir, this is my younger sister. She's wanted some ice cream for a while, and we decided today would be a good day. However, the little scamp has been very naughty, and so she can only have one scoop. She doesn't like it, but you have to set rules for the younger ones." The old man gave her a hearty laugh.

"That's true, so very true young one. It does this old heart good to see one so young taking such responsibility in teaching the youngest generation that misbehavior is wrong." Ranma glared at the old man, and then back to her companion. Then a small pout formed when Washu ended up getting an extra scoop to her already large ice cream sundae.

"I so hate you." The two-year-old grumbled as the two redheads made there way to a booth that already had three people. Ranma's eyes lit up at seeing her former mother, along with Kasumi and Akane. As soon as the younger ran up to the table, her former mother's eyes lit up at the ears.

"The ears look nice on you Ranma-chan." A small blush appeared on said child's face, and even intensified when Nodoka picked her up and sat the two-year-old in her lap; much to the protest of the child herself.

"What are you doing?" The whole thing was embarrassing her greatly, even more so when the older woman held her close.

"I've just missed you so much, Ranma-chan. It's been so long since I could just hold you like this." Nodoka softly said. It was a few moments of silence before Nodoka let go. "It's adorable how your ears seem to twitch when you're nervous.

The tiny redhead sat there miffed as her ears and tail continued to be the center of attention.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"That meeting went well, don't you think, Ranma?" Washu asked the younger redhead as they walked away from the ice cream shop. Ranma silently nodded as they walked on.

"You'd think they never saw cat ears and a tail before." The two-year-old stated as they walked on.

"On a normal feline… yes. You are human however. It was fun to watch your former mother and that Kasumi think about how they were so cute and that they seemed to suit you. That Akane girl didn't seem to know what to think As if a myriad of emotions played across her face." Ranma thought for a second and nodded.

"At least she doesn't think I'm a pervert or anything anymore. It was actually nice talking to her without the worry of having to watch for a mallet. Still has her temper, but doesn't seem to be as violent as she was two years ago. I guess it's true what they say. Death changes a person." A small smile played across her face, "Even if the other person has come back from the dead." Her thoughts turned to another subject.

"Hard to believe mo… _AUNTIE_ Nodoka is pregnant." She remembered her former mother said to call her auntie. Since, well, she IS her aunt now. She contemplated letting Narcissa know that she had a cousin out there somewhere who was… what was the word? Oh yeah, Muggle. She'd probably have a fit. Tossing it out of her mind, she went back to the current subject. "The thought of her, drunk, and Genma doing it is… eww…"

"Your first dirty thought, and you're so young." The 20,000-year-old redhead teased. She then had to shiver at the thought herself. She saw an old picture of Genma in an album of Katsuhito's. The thought of someone like him, and a beautiful woman like Nodoka in bed together was enough to make anyone go green.

Glaring at her teacher, Ranma continued. "I just hope she sticks to what she said. That she won't allow Genma to take the child on a training trip, or commit any of the similar follies he committed with me. If Genma tries anything, he'll be in a zoo faster than he could slip into the umi-sen-ken." The two-year-old thought darkly. No child deserved that kind of life under Genma.

"So, ready to see your current mother? I hope you thought up a story as to why you have your cat features." Her student gave her a mischievous smile.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"It's true momma." The two-year-old sniffled as tears streamed from her eyes. "That Xellos guy placed these cat ears and tail on me as a curse. He's an evil and tricky man. I'm just glad these cat things help me a lot, and not hurt me. I also don't fear kitties either. If it wasn't for this nice lady Washu right here, I would have died." Narcissa grabbed the tiny redhead in her arms.

"Oh my poor Lina, how could I be so foolish as to let you go with that vile beast?" The blonde then turned to Washu. Usually she despised even the thought of a muggle, but this one saved and was taking care of her child for the past few weeks and seemed… different.

"I… thank you for taking care of my precious daughter, young lady." Washu's eyes twinkled when she thought of a little fun she could have. Motioning the Malfoy matriarch close, the scientist whispered into her ear.

"I feel I should tell you a few things, Mrs. Malfoy. You see, when I rescued your daughter, she was VERY near death. She was suffering from internal bleeding, broken bones, and complete spiritual, magical, and physical energy depletion." Narcissa's eyes widened in terror at the thought of her child in so much pain, "You see, I'm actually a powerful witch myself." The redhead lied. No need for the blonde woman in front of her to know the full truth.

"You are? But you look so young." The blue-eyed woman stated.

"I'm quite a bit older than I look, Mrs. Malfoy. I brought your daughter back from the brink of death. It took many hours of intense work, but she survived. Since then I have been treating her like a child of my own. I have also been helping her discover her magic." The physically young girl was then swept up in a soft hug.

"I thank you from the bottom of my heart, Miss Washu." She then looked down at her daughter, "How good does she take care of you, Lina? By the way, I think your cat features are adorable." A giggle escaped her as the child in front of her blushed in embarrassment. It seemed to increase in intensity once she picked the redhead up in her arms and started tickling the pointy objects. Maybe they were strange, but she didn't care. As long as her daughter was alive and well. Lucius would complain about such things. About it all being 'Un-Malfoy', but even HE missed their child.

"She takes care of me very well, momma. She's very smart, kind, and caring. She is also a bit strict if I goof off, but fair. She can be a little crazy at times, but she's better than the evil and cruel man that took me." Ranma said with big and innocent eyes. 'I'm getting too good at this.' Her eyes spotted Washu glare at her a little after the 'crazy' comment. 'Payback's hell, isn't it Washu?' She thought in humor.

Narcissa's smile became warm as she set down her child and looked at the spiky-haired redhead. "My child sure is fond of you. From the sound of it, she doesn't want to leave." A bit of sadness played across her face for a second. "I'd hate to part from her again, but if she's happiest with you, then I don't mind. Just as long as she writes, visits and you keep her out of harm, Miss Washu." The eccentric scientist smiled back.

"Don't worry; I'll make sure she does, and please, call me Little Washu." The introduction was cut when something crashed into Ranma. Washu and Narcissa looked down to see the small redhead being hugged by her blonde brother.

"Lina!" The little boy shouted in excitement as he hugged his sister. His eyes widened when he saw the new cat features that were on his sister. "Wow," was his only response as he proceeded to pull on the ears, and play around with the tail.

"Will you stop that Draco!?" The now cat-girl shouted in annoyance as her brother ignored her. All the while two older people were laughing at the sight.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx _**(Present time)**_

"Well, that's the dangers of having cute cat features that look like they suit you. Ah, we're coming into the station now." Washu said as they entered the station, their eyes glanced around for the platform. "You said it was Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, right?" Both pairs of eyes scanned the station. They saw Platform Nine, and they saw Platform Ten, but no Nine and Three-Quarters. Ranma's eyes did see a familiar face looking around as well though.

"Yo, Hermione!" The bushy haired girl, accompanied by her parents, turned around and smiled at a familiar face.

"It's good to see you again, Lina." Hermione said cheerfully as she walked up to her new friend. Her eyes also spotted the slightly taller girl with spiky red hair standing next to her. The girl had some strange holographic laptop or something. Both the girl and her friend had red hair, and both of them seemed to have an odd aged look in their eyes. They looked similar enough to be related, yet different enough to not be. The whole thought made the bookworm's head spin.

As if guessing what question was coming next, Ranma motioned to the one next to her. "This is the lady who's been my guardian for several years, Washu Hakubi. Washu, this is my friend Hermione Granger." Both greeted each other, and Hermione felt as if the lady, Washu was her name, was eyeing her with calculating eyes.

Shaking the thought from her mind, she looked back at the dual eye colored girl. "I'm trying to figure out where Platform Nine and Three-Quarters is. I can't seem to find it." Her eyes then noticed that something was amiss. "Oh hey, where's your luggage for school? I don't see it anywhere."

'Damn, she's a sharp one. Most people would probably not have a second thought.' The 11-year-old redhead thought with a sigh. "Something called 'Hidden Weapons Technique'." With a flick of the hand, one of her books appeared in her hand, and was willed away with another flick. Hermione's eyes widened.

"Wow, that's got to be handy," Her expression turned back into confusion. "Now we just need to figure out how to get on that platform…"

"The pillar between Platforms Nine and Ten has a glamour field around it disguising the small pocket gateway to a mini sub dimension platform that exists within the same time as the normal platforms and trains, but is otherwise out of sync with regular reality. These wizarding folk sure are something." Washu stated as she scanned the area with her computer. "There is nothing that I, Washu, the Greatest Scientific Genius in the Universe can't figure out! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Ranma and Hermione sweat dropped as the green eyed redhead gave off a maniacal laugh that caused everyone around the area to stare.

"Um… sorry about that. Washu gets a little… carried away at times." The cat eared girl said as she scratched the back of her head nervously. Laira just shook her head as she went back to sleep. Bringing herself back to reality, Hermione looked towards the pillar between the two platforms.

"I read about a glamour in 'A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot'. It's a spell placed on an object to make it unnoticeable by other people." Washu appeared right next to her with a calculating side glance.

"You seem like quite the knowledgeable young lady, Hermione."

"Er… well… I like to learn everything I can. Knowledge is a good thing to have. It allows you to know…" The brown haired girl didn't get to finish what she was about to say as Washu grabbed her up in a tight hug.

"Ha ha! It's so great to meet a young person who has such a strong interest in knowledge these days! You're a girl after my own heart." The 20,000-year-old scientist announced as she swung Hermione around.

'I have to do something before there's a second Washu or something!' "Washu, we really need to get going to the train. Also, you attracted too much attention, so I don't know if we could do it without people watching!" Ranma hissed. Washu stopped in her little dance and winked.

"No problem." She said, bringing out a small remote with a big red button on it. The cat eared 11-year-old was feeling a little nervous. She expected some crazy explosion as the button was pressed, but nothing happened. Glancing curiously at her teacher for the past nine years, she noticed the well known 'Washu smirk' and followed the pointed finger's direction into the sky.

A face fault occurred when she noticed that one of Washu's black sub space pockets opened up and let out a… mecha crab. The crab danced around a bit and kept shouting 'Hey everybody, let's dance' while waving sparklers in the air. It did the job of distracting people at least. With a face completely red in embarrassment, Ranma turned to Hermione.

"Come on, let's go while everyone's distracted, and _**PLEASE**_ don't ask any questions. For the sake of both our sanities, don't even _**ASK**_." Only managing to nod dumbly, the brown eyed bookworm followed closely behind and through the pillar. She managed a wave to her parents before vanishing through.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Just when I think things can't get any weirder…" Hermione started as she and Ranma climbed on to the train. The redhead waved it off.

"Forget it, let's just find a compartment." Ranma stated wearily. She just wanted to forget the small event happened. Blinking and following her friend, they opened up the first compartment they came to. There was only one person inside, a plump and round faced boy who looked around nervously. "You don't mind if we sit in here with you, do you?" The boy looked in her direction and shook his head.

"I don't mind, although I am looking for my toad, Trevor. The name's Neville by the way." The boy said in nervousness. His face fell when both girls shook their heads and came in to set down. After a little while, the train started to move. Neville got up and proceeded to leave, saying something about finding his toad.

Laira woke up and stretched before jumping down from the top of Ranma's head. "Momma, I'm going to go catch up with Grandma Washu. You can talk to me on our link if you need me."

"You sure, Laira?" The lavender eyed creature nodded.

"I'm booooorrrreeeedddd. I wanna go play with Grandma Washu or auntie Sasami since she's currently on Earth. I'll catch up with you later. I REALLY want to explore this school place." Laira then vanished from the compartment.

"She… vanished?" Hermione asked in wonderment She also didn't understand the whole 'grandma' and 'aunt' thing. Ranma nodded with a small smile.

"She just went to play around with Washu. She'll be back later, since she really wanted to explore the school. Because of the link we have, she'd be able to find me easily. Hey, you ok Hermione?" The redhead asked her friend, who seemed to be having a slight headache. The brown eyed girl just waved the question.

"I'm ok Lina. In all honesty, trying to understand things around you is making my head hurt. I think I'll go help that boy find his toad. See you later." After she left, Ranma gave a small chuckle.

"Try understanding it all from my point of view." Her head turned to the window, the martial artist/sorceress watched as the scenery rolled by. After a few minutes, she heard a familiar voice nearing the compartment door. Getting up, she glanced outside and saw her brother. Following him were two boys she recognized as Crabbe and Goyle. They became friends of his sometime between her frequent visits to the Malfoy estate to visit her mother. As much as she hated to admit it, the two were completely stupid and followed Draco like lost puppies. They combined their strength with his mind, a dangerous combination.

"Draco." Ranma said simply. The blonde boy and his goons turned around. Draco's calm expression broke out in a smile. Walking over, the pale eyed boy gave his sister a hug.

"Hi sis, how are you doing? I see you made it onto the train in time."

"Was there ever a doubt?" The redhead asked with a smirk. Her brother just shook his head in amusement.

"Still as cocky as ever I see. I can't imagine anyone more so than you, dear sister."

"Looked in a mirror lately?"

"You _wound_ me, Lina." The blonde boy said in mock hurt, but then waved it off as he looked at his sister mischievously. "How are your ears and tail doing?" At the redhead's glare, he raised his arms in a warding gesture. "Don't look at me like that. Crabbe, Goyle, and I aren't immature anymore. We won't be pulling your ears or tail anymore. Not if we want to keep our health." He finished, remembering the day that his sister finally got fed up with.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx _**(Three years ago)**_

An eight year old Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle were sniggering as they looked around the corner to see Lina. She was reading some odd book entitled 'Advanced Calculus: Jurai University Edition'. His sister was always reading weird books that nobody around understood. Even she seemed to be completely bored and on the verge of falling asleep from it.

They, of course, had to figure out a way to get past the girl's senses. It wasn't easy to do, but they always managed to find some little way to get through. They were in luck though, she just fell asleep. The girl could sleep through almost anything.

Quickly, the three boys took off running at the redhead. Their smirks turned to shock when her eyes popped open, looked in their direction with an evil smirk, raised her fist into the air, and brought down to the floor. The very punch crashed THROUGH the stone flooring.

The three boys backed up quickly. "That's just a warning to you three. A sample of what could happen if you try and pull my tail or anything again." Her nose twitched a little. "I think you three need some clean undies now." Blushing, the boys ran away as fast as their legs could allow them to. Ranma pulled her fist from the ground… to reveal no trace of a hole. She used her phasing to do that. Turning around, she started muttering to herself. "I would have broken my fist if I tried to punch through that. I still need to build up my strength… damn kid's body."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx _**(Present)**_

"So what are you doing heading down the train, Draco?" Ranma asked curiously

"We caught word that Harry Potter was on the train in the back, and we're going to go meet him. Want to come along, Lina?" Their response was a shake of the head.

"I already saw him when I was at Diagon Alley shopping for my supplies. Besides…" The cat eared girl trailed off, looking at a wheel tray coming their way. "Snacking comes first before anything else." Draco watched her wait for the snack witch to come to her. Shaking his head at his sister's love for food, the blonde led his friends down the train.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma was enjoying the snacks she got from the cart, mostly Cauldron Cakes, Pumpkin Pastries, and Chocolate Frogs. She didn't dare get any of those Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans. Not after what the Old Fart said all those years ago about you never knowing what you'd get, and that there's a possibility for such things as vomit. Opening a couple of the Chocolate Frogs, she noticed they came with cards. "Agrippa and Ptolemy… kind of some odd names. She watched as they moved in and out of their own cards. "I _**still**_ haven't gotten used to that."

The door to her compartment opened up, and in walked Hermione and the nervous kid who introduced himself as Neville earlier. The bushy haired girl's eyes focused on the empty wrappers pile that was next to her friend on the seat. "Looks like you were a little hungry, Lina." Shrugging, Ranma offered a Pumpkin Pastry to both of them. Neville took the pastry, while Hermione waved it off. "You better put your robes on. I just found out a minute ago that we're almost to our stop."

"Thanks for the heads up." Bringing out her robes, the 11-year-old redhead slipped them over her head. She smiled at the fact that the robes hid her cat tail from view, although her ears were bound to be figured out. It was only a matter of time before she would probably be forced to remove it. Her eyes then traveled to the plump boy who seemed to be overly nervous. "You ok? You seem about ready to pass out."

"I'm fine, just a little nervous is all. Did I introduce myself yet? I'm Neville Longbottom." He reached out to shake Ranma's hand.

"You did, but not a fully. I'm Lina Malfoy." She said in response, shaking his hand.

The three sat back in silence for several minutes until the train started coming to a stop. The weather outside, Ranma noticed, was getting dark and dreary looking. The train finally came to a stop, and everyone was piling out of the compartments. Finding herself separated from her compartment buddies due to the crowds of students, she decided to just follow everyone outside. Once stepping outside, the redhead heard a loud voice calling out.

"Firs' years over here! Firs' years!" Looking towards the voice, Ranma saw the familiar face of Hagrid. She only met the guy once, but someone like him left an impression in your mind. Maybe it was because he was so big. Dodging between people, she jumped above the rest of the thick crowd and landed near the large man.

"Hey, Hagrid." She greeted to the large man. Looking down at her, the hairy man nodded with a smile.

"Glad yah could make it, Lina." The calling for first year students went on for a few more minutes. "Alright, everyone follow me!" Listening to the mountain of a man, everyone fell in step as he walked them down a dark and narrow path. Ranma noticed that that several of the other kids seemed to almost stumble. The redhead could see the thickened trees on either side, thick enough to cancel out lighting for anyone inside of them.

The path down the hill went on a little longer until Ranma caught sight of a large and dark lake. A lake that was black enough that it seamed that no light could escape. Next to the lake on the side of a mountain was a large and old looking castle with windows glistening from the night sky.

Near the edge of the lake, several small boats were positioned. 'Sure is nice of them to have first year students ride on some rickety boats a cross a black lake instead of taking whatever transportation the others take.' Ranma thought with a frown. She thought about just flying over, but she didn't want to freak people out… yet. It was inevitable that _**something**_ around her would go weird, but why speed it up?

"Four ta a boat, no more than four ta a boat!" Hagrid announced loudly. The 11-year-old redhead ended up in a boat with a couple people who introduced themselves as Hannah Abbot and Justin Finch-Fletchley, while Hermione and Neville got in a boat with that Harry kid, and some boy with red hair. Her own boat mates were in discussion about something they both saw when they were headed to the train.

"I swear, it was a giant mechanical crab or something that was dancing in the air." Justin said with wide eyes. Hannah could only nod in agreement.

"Then all of a sudden it gave off a crazy laugh and disappeared through that black hole thingy in the sky." Hannah supplied in wonderment. As the two talked about how weird is was, Ranma, in embarrassment, said nothing and silently cursed Washu. Looking into the murky waters, she could have sworn that she saw a large tentacle breaking the surface.

"The dang lake has monsters in it." She said to herself, wondering just what the hell kind of school it was. Looking up to the cliff path to the school, her eyes could make out what seemed like the top of carriages. Looking forward, she bent her head as the boats made their way under a curtain of ivy and through a dimly lit tunnel.

The boats finally came to a stop, and as everyone stepped out of the boats, Ranma saw that Neville was reunited with his toad. She slightly wondered how a toad that was lost on a train could suddenly pop up at the end of a boat trip in the same boat as the person who was trying to find it and not realize. Emptying the thought from her mind, the redhead followed everyone up the path and stone steps until they came to a large door.

"Everyone here?" The large man asked. He then turned towards the door and pounded on it with his large fist. Not long after, said door opened to reveal a woman who seemed to be of middle age or slightly older with black hair in tight bun, emerald green robes and small round glasses resting in front of stern looking eyes. She also, to Ranma, seemed to have an air of a cat around her. Something that confused the cat eared girl. "Here are the Firs' years, Prof. McGonagall." Hagrid said to the woman who now had a name.

"Thank you Hagrid." Her voice had a strict tone to it. Motioning for the children to follow, McGonagall lead them through the castle, which was loud with voices from somewhere. They were lead to a small chamber that was slightly cramping. There, the older woman started a speech about the school, houses, sorting, and a bunch of other stuff that Ranma only paid bits and pieces to.

After the woman left, everyone started to chatter nervously. Unsure of what the sorting would entail. "My brother Fred said it was some sort of test that hurt a lot. Hopefully he was joking." Ranma looked towards the voice and saw the redheaded boy who was with that Harry kid, Hermione, and Neville. She decided to walk up to them.

"I doubt it would be something painful or difficult. We ARE first years after all." The boy gave a slow nod in understanding to her. "Although it would be fun if did involve some physical challenge." She said offhandedly. That received her a look that said 'What are you, nuts?' from the boy. He then gave a nod a second later.

"I guess you're right. I'm going to kill Fred, said we'd have to wrestle a troll or something." Ranma gave the boy an incredulous look.

"You think HE would've been able to wrestle a troll when he was in his first year?" The redheaded boy blushed in embarrassment before regaining his composure.

"Yeah, I guess your right. I'm Ron Weasley by the way." He reached his hand out to shake Ranma's.

"Lina Malfoy." She said shaking his. Her eyes caught the strange look on the boy's face. "What?" Did she have something on her face?

"You're not related to a boy named Draco Malfoy, are you? The guy's a total git. Came into my compartment and started harassing us." He stated pointing between him and the glasses boy next to him. His eyes then looked towards the blonde boy in question who was busy conversing with his large friends.

"Er… yeah. He's my twin brother." The cat eared girl stated while scratching the back of her head. Her eyes then caught sight of a card poking out of the boy's robes pocket. "Hey, what's that?" Ron looked down at the card and just waved.

"It's just a card from a Chocolate Frog I had on the train that I don't need. I've been searching for Agrippa and Ptolemy. 500 cards and not one of them." His eyes widened when the redheaded girl in front of him pulled out the very cards he needed. "Wha…"

"You can have them. I don't really care about collecting them, so there's no need for me to have them." She handed the cards to the boy, who seemed to almost want to jump up and down in excitement.

Her ears then picked up the sounds of voices, and then saw as a group of ghosts flying into their chamber from the wall. Deep in discussion about someone named 'Peeves'. Everyone seemed too startled to speak as the ghosts began talking to the group. 'Sheesh, talk about wimpy.' She was about to speak up when McGonagall came in.

"Alright children, follow me. The sorting shall begin now, please follow me." They were lead out of the chamber and through a pair of double doors. Ranma's eyes blinked as she laid eyes upon the large and spacious room that contained hundreds of flying candles, four long tables, and a table ahead at the end of the room. The dual eye colored girl caught sight of the Old Fart, Dumbledore, sitting in the middle of the table.

He didn't seem to have changed that much since she met him nine years ago. His hair and beard were grayer than before, but not much seemed different. Her eyes drifted skyward to see what looked like the night time sky itself. "Looks just like the sky." Hermione looked towards her.

"It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. It was in 'Hogwarts: A History'. You should have gotten the book when we were getting our school books." Ranma rolled her eyes. Her friend tried to get her to buy the same book she did, but the redhead declined. She didn't need ANOTHER book on her 'to read' list set up by Washu. Her time was already stretched between lectures, training in martial arts and sorcery, reading both books Washu wanted her to read, and some of the books for school that Washu felt she should read at least a bit about.

She was thrown out of her thoughts when a dusty, old, and ragged hat was placed on a small stool in front of them. 'What, I supposed that dusty thing is going to talk?' Ranma asked to herself. Although the more the thought ran around, the more the redhead felt that considering the way life around her was, it would very well do so.

Sure enough, the battered eyesore of a hat started talking. Actually, it spouted off in singing a poem or something, reminding Ranma of a certain kendoist from the past. Hoping to the stars that the hat wasn't delusional, she listened to the poem about how it would be the one to decide the houses they are placed in.

Names began to be called off in alphabetical order. Hanna Abbot became a Hufflepuff, Finch-Fletchley as well. Crabbe and Goyle to Slytherin, Hermione to Gryffindor. Draco went to Slytherin. Finally, it was her turn. As she walked to the stool, McGonagall stopped her for a second.

"You need to take your hat off, Miss Malfoy." Frowning, the 11-year-old redhead reached up and slipped off her beanie. Gasps around the Great Hall were heard as her cat ears were revealed, twitching in slight annoyance. The witch in emerald green robes looked right at her in astonishment. "So the story is true…"

Ranma's eyes narrowed as she willed them away. "Are you going to stare at me all day, or are we going to get this on with, Old Lady." The commotion in the Great Hall stopped as all eyes centered upon the young redhead with cat ears that vanished who just called Professor McGonagall 'Old Lady'. Over at the staff table, Dumbledore was trying to stifle a small laugh that was threatening to escape.

"E… excuse me? Did you just call me 'Old Lady'?" The bespectacled teacher asked in shock.

"Well it's better than 'Old Ghoul'." Ranma mumbled to herself before talking back to the woman and feigning an apology. "I'm sorry for that, but don't you think it's a bit… I don't know, rude to be staring at someone like a gasping fish?" Her arms crossed in front of her chest with a glare.

"Oh… umm…" Minerva McGonagall was at a loss for words for the first time in a long while. "I apologize for my rudeness, Miss Malfoy. Please sit on the stool, and I'll place the Sorting Hat upon your head."

Doing as she was told, Ranma then saw the inside of the dirty and beaten hat. A small voice then drifted around her. "Quite the amusing little show there." It said with a small chuckle. "Let's get on with the sorting though. Hmm… my, you are a VERY difficult. You have the wit, courage, hard working, bravery, and ambition… the desire to prove yourself to everyone. Many would say… egotistical, yet you don't allow yourself to be corrupted by it. Quite the strong will you have, young one. Although I sense a great chaotic streak from you, the kind that inadvertently causes mischief around you."

"Put me anywhere. I don't really care, just as long as I can do whatever it is I need to do." The redhead stated. The hat gave another chuckle.

"Very well then… from sensing the great desire and ambition you have to grow in your abilities, I have made my decision." It said as it trailed off.

"And that is?"

"Such impatience for one so young… my decision has been made. You shall be placed in SLYTHERIN!!" The hat ended with a shout that echoed around the Great Hall. The patchy hat was then taken off Ranma's head, and she was allowed to get off the stool. She headed towards the Slytherin table and sat down next to her brother. Draco gave a gleeful laugh.

"Ha ha, I'm glad you could join us, Lina. For a second there, and from your attitude, I was almost worried you'd end up in Gryffindor." He gave his sister a happy pat on the back. His eyes then watched as her ears suddenly popped out of her head again, and caused her to sigh.

"Jeez, keeping those hidden is like sucking in your stomach. Also, what's wrong with Gryffindor, Draco?" She asked. Not really understanding why all these people keep saying one house is worse than another.

"Gryffindor and Slytherin are rivals, sis. Those Gryffies engage in pointless heroics, and are all about trying to be goody goody. All those filthy muggle-born kids make it even more disgusting." Ranma raised an eyebrow at the mini rant. Sheesh, talk about bigotry. Their father was really starting to get to him. She then watched as Harry Potter went to the Gryffindor side.

"Well she's here, so that's good. You won't have to worry about your sister." A voice to the other side of Ranma spoke. The redhead looked to see a girl who just got done with the sorting a few minutes ago. She had short black hair in a pageboy style. She was kind of pretty, but acted as if there was something under her nose. She then smiled at the dual eye colored girl and reached her hand out.

"Pansy Parkinson" She simply stated. Ranma decided it best to shake the hand back. The introduced girl's eyes looked at the ears on top of her head. "How DID you get those things anyway?"

"Name's Lina Malfoy. The cat features are because of an event that happened to me when I was two. Some evil, dark, and magical being kidnapped me from home and did it. He took me to Japan where a woman rescued me. I've been living there ever since, visiting my family off and on." Pansy's eyes widened.

"I've always wanted to visit Japan. I've heard so many stories about it being an interesting place that's almost 'out of this world'." She received a half-lidded look.

"You have no idea." It was at that time that the sorting appeared to be over, and Dumbledore rose to his feet and began a speech.

"Welcome to a new year of Hogwarts! Before we begin, there's a few words I would like to say: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!" He looked around the room and spotted a questioning look on Ranma's face. He gave her a slight wink and sat down.

"The Old Fart's still off his rocker after nine years." The redhead said with a roll of her eyes. She received a small look from a few people sitting around her.

"You've met him before?" Pansy asked curiously.

"Yeah I have. It was right after I was rescued. The Old Fart was apparently on vacation to Japan at the time. I thought he was weird then, and I still think he's weird now. Seems to know what he's doing though, and has an air of power about him." It was then she noticed that food suddenly appeared on the table… loads and loads of it. "Hold that thought… I'm hungry."

Now, Ayeka tried all those years ago to get Ranma to start eating like a civilized human. It took a while, but she managed to get the redhead to do it… when in the presence of the Juraian royal princess, royal family, and events where she absolutely needed to be polite. All other times she'd slip into the eating style she was most familiar with.

"Watch it; you could lose your fingers if you're not careful!" Draco announced to the people closest to the redhead, who started digging into the food with gusto. The blonde boy was VERY well aware of his sister's eating habits. He didn't know where it all went, as if a black hole was her very stomach.

"Good lord, it's like one of those muggle vacuum thingies!" One Slytherin girl announced as the redhead emptied plate after plate after plate. "She's your sister?!" another Slytherin asked towards Draco, who could only nod.

"I have never seen such an appetite." A low and almost dead voice said appearing between Ranma and Draco. Stopping a little in her consuming, Ranma looked and saw a ghost with blank eyes, gaunt face, and robes stained with silver blood. Everyone around the table seemed a bit frightened of him. "It's quite disgusting."

"Yeah? So what? Who are you, sunshine?" The sinister looking ghost frowned at the 'sunshine' comment and glared at the young girl, who ignored it.

"I am the Bloody Baron, the terror of Hogwarts, the ghost that strikes fear into everyone's hearts, the only thing in this castle that can keep the Poltergeist, Peeves, in line. Just the sight of me unnerves the entire populace. I am also the house ghost for Slytherin."

"Yeah, yeah, jeez, for a moment there I thought you were going to say 'The terror that flaps in the night'." Everyone looked at her in confusion. 'I wonder if this guy is some sort of ancestor to Kuno. He makes long winded speeches about himself as well, although he's a wee bit dreary.' She looked back to the Baron. "You sure are moody. I know a couple of people who could lighten your spirits. By the way, why ARE you called 'The Bloody Baron'?" The question earned a sinister laugh from the specter.

"That, my dear girl, is a question that nobody has ever asked, because they fear me." Ranma rolled her eyes. "In my youth, I used to bathe in the blood of my enemies. Their blood marked my walls, and their bodies hung by their own intestines." The description caused everyone to go green. "Sadly… I died alone"

"Yeeeaaaahhhh…. I can't see why that was." The young redhead let out sarcastically. How the hell was a goof like this allowed in Hogwarts? Her eyes drifted to the Gryffindor ghost who seemed to have a head that was unsuccessfully chopped off, and who seemed to not enjoy it. The Hufflepuff ghost was the fat guy that was talking about giving this person named 'Peeves' another chance. The Ravenclaw ghost appeared to be beautiful lady. Why did their ghost have to be some delusional and brooding ghost with serious issues?

Her eyes ventured over to the staff table and spotted the oddly nervous man from The Leaky Cauldron. He was now wearing a tight purple turban, and was talking to some pale and hook nosed man with greasy black hair who looked as if he had a pine cone shoved up his butt. Shrugging, she turned to the meal and began again.

After the food vanished, Dumbledore got to his feet, silencing the Great Hall. "Now that we've all been fed and watered." Ranma was sitting back and patting her stomach. "It's time for the start of term announcements. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to everyone. Some older students should be reminded of that as well."

"Our caretaker, Mr. Filch" He motioned towards someone standing by the doors. A person, Ranma thought, who ALSO had a pinecone stuck up his anus. "Has asked me to inform you all that no magic should be performed in between classes in the corridors."

"Quiddich trials will be held in the second week of the term. If any of you have interest in playing for your house teams, please contact Madam Hooch." Ranma vaguely recalled what that sport was. She never tried to learn what it was about though. "And finally, this year, the third-floor corridor on the right side of the school is out of bounds to anyone who doesn't wish to die a painful death." The 11-year-old redhead raised an eye at this. What kind of school would have something dangerous enough to kill a student?

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song" Ranma's eyes began to glaze over, and her ears twitched, at how out of tune and pitchy the song got. It was soon over, and Dumbledore began to talk again. "And now, I bid you all a fond good night's sleep."

Getting up from her seat, the cat eared redhead followed the Slytherins out the Great Hall. They then proceeded down several sets of stone steps. The air around them seemed to get cooler as they went, and small drafts picked up, brushing against the top of her ears. 'Anyone around here ever heard of blasted heating?' Ranma thought to herself as they reached the bottom of the steps and ventured down a long stone passageway. The martial artist/sorceress saw the stone wall at the end of the passage. 'Wha? Did we take the wrong way? Don't tell me that wall's going to open up.'

"Red Giblets" The older Slytherin they were all following randomly announced. The stone wall opened up, annoying Ranma on the fact that she seemed to be able to guess this stuff by heart.

They walked through the stone passage and into a long room with a low hanging ceiling. On the ceiling were several greenish lamps, and the comfy looking chairs, too, consisted of green. The floor held several dark silver plush carpets, and there was a fireplace on the far wall. On the walls was something a bit strange. The same older Slytherine who led them inside turned to them.

"It is said that the Slytherin common room are located under the lake, and is able to exist thanks to magical enchantments. Now, the boys' dormitory is down those stone steps to the right, and the girls are down the steps to the left. Both dormitories have their own bathing chambers. Please familiarize yourself with the common room. It will be your new home during school." The boy then left, heading down the steps to the boys' dormitory.

This left Ranma to look around a bit and idly wonder if the house WAS located under the Hogwarts lake. Looking above her, she figured she could stick her head through and look once she was alone. A voice came to her ear. "If you have cat ears, does that mean you have a cat tail as well?" Her robe was suddenly lifted up in back to expose her long red tail. The redhead spun around quickly to see a tall boy with bad teeth accompanied by a few others. "Well what do you know? You do! Ha ha ha."

Ranma reached out quickly and grabbed him by his collar. "I recommend that you don't do that again." She said, her eyes momentarily flashing red. The boy with bad teeth nodded nervously before he was let go.

"Sorry about that, we were just curious as to whether you did have a cat tail or not. It's weird, but it's also cool to see." The others around him gave a nod in agreement. He then held out his hand. "Marcus Flint by the way."

Ranma nodded and shook his hand, followed by several of the others. Draco walked up to the group. "Better not make her angry. She can punch through stone." The assembled group looked towards the redhead… who suddenly felt it was a good time to whistle and examine her shoes.

When everyone left the common room for the dormitories, Ranma looked towards the low ceiling and floated up. Sticking her head though, she noticed that the room WAS under the lake. 'Well imagine that.' Her eyes looked to the front of her to see a small little creature with green skin and teeth. Its arms and fingers were terribly long. Its beady eyes stared at her in shock before narrowing and growling. The redhead then noticed a bunch more of the creatures appearing in the area. 'Eep!' She thought as she ducked her head back into the common room from the rampaging creatures. "This school is freaking nuts! What kind of school would keep all sorts of dangerous creatures within this lake? It's a miracle that nobody has died yet… unless there HAVE been deaths." She threw the thought out of her mind and yawned. "I might as well head to bed. I'll figure this place out tomorrow, and find out a suitable place to practice."

She frowned as she headed down to the girls' dormitory and stopped in front of the door. 'Damn Jusenkyo and having your body coursing with chaotic magic up the wazoo.' Opening up the door, she noticed that the beds were four posters, draped with deep emerald green curtains. She noticed that the only one vacant was the middle bed.

Walking to the bed, the redhead started changing her clothes to her pajamas, which consisted of a deep blue shirt and pair of pants with a fish motif. Climbing into bed and pulling the blanket over her, Ranma's mind drifted to thoughts of finding a suitable place to be able to train, and possibly exploring the castle, as well as that forbidden corridor. If anything that dangerous was living there, then it was a sure bet that whatever it was would probably end up coming for her.

Although… she could get lucky and whatever it was would STAY there. Her eyes closed, and she instantly drifted off to sleep.

xxxA.N.xxx

This one actually came fast. I now need to think up what the next chapter would include.

The only really bad thing is how there weren't many Slytherin who were given names or anything within the series.

Just to let the people who are wondering know… I will NOT pair Ranma off with a guy, so none of you would need to worry about that.

I'm thinking about Ranma finding the Room of Requirement.


	7. The First Day

Wild Magic

Ranma 1/2, Slayers, and any other series used in this fanfic are owned by their respective creators/publishers/whatever

Students are sorted into houses by certain traits they have. Slytherin prizes ambition, determination, slight disregard of rules, cunning, etc. Doesn't mean the person in the house would become a complete bastard or anything. Some who have strong traits that go with another house could easily show traits that would also work in another house. The hat picks the place where it feels they would experience the most. So don't let stronger traits make you think one would belong in one place. Anyway… let's get the show on the road!!!!!

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Chapter 7

The area was littered with damage, holes, and fallen debris. The sky was as black as the shadows; wind was whipping around at speeds that almost toppled trees. The rain fell in sheets that made it almost unbearable to withstand. Four bodies lay on the ground, with small pools of blood around them. One, a swordsman, was just barely conscious; his vision looked up to see the back of a short girl with reddish hair flipping wildly in the wind. Her clothes were cut and torn, while her body was bleeding in several areas.

His eyes scanned the area towards their fallen group. The first to fall was the short black haired and energetic princess. She started off with her customary speech about villainy, love, peace, and similar. She was doing very well in the battle, as well as anyone could hope to do against the evil they were all facing. That was until she sprained her ankle from a rock that tripped her. A wild bit of dark purple magic caught up to her and pierced through her chest, hitting her heart, and killing her instantly.

The second victim, the usually composed silver purple haired chimera, was devastated at the girl's loss. He felt that if he had only reacted quicker, that it wouldn't have happened. His grief quickly turned to anger as his eyes turned towards the being that was the cause of all this pain. The spells he let loose only seemed to be of minor annoyance to the being. The chimera went down not long after.

Next was the Dragon Priestess. Even in her dragon form she didn't stand a chance, although she did manage to put a very small hole in the creature's body. The victory was short lived however; as her wings were cut as she was flying high in the sky. Her form was then ravaged with a barrage of magical attacks.

He cursed himself for forgetting to get his Sword of Light from his son. Why did he give it to him in the first place? Because he was foolish in believing that there wouldn't be anymore insane and completely deadly events that would require the need of it. He also didn't want the younger to feel left out with not getting anything of interest while the elder child received several things of interest. His eyes widened when the girl in front of him looked towards him with almost dead eyes, and the next thing she spoke sent chills down his spine.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't be of help to any of you. I let you all down when I was needed most, and there's only one way to end this." Her deep red eyes turned and stared at the large being shadowed in darkness, standing near a group of ancient springs that seemed to almost pulse with ancient magic. Her eyes turned hard. The **_thing_** destroyed billions of lives across two different realities by tearing apart barriers, and mending both together. Priests and profits saw this coming… magic was starting to become less common. Disasters occurred that killed whole cities. "This is probably it for me…"

"Lina?!"

"_Darkness beyond blackest pitch, deeper than the deepest night." _ It was a spell that she vowed to never use again. A spell that called upon L-sama herself. A spell that could very well cause even more disaster, but if it managed to kill this thing…

"STOP LINA! You know very well what… Gah!" he clutched the large wound in his stomach.

"_King of Darkness who shines like gold upon the Sea of Chaos; I call thee, swear myself to thee." _Her form was bathed in a golden aura, her hair blowing upwards in a sudden gust. With a quick and unannounced levitation spell, she leapt from the cliff side and for the monster. "_Let the fools who stand before me be destroyed by the power you and I possess...GIGA SLAVE!"_ The spell was lobbed into the hole of the creature that the Dragon Priestess caused earlier. The creature's body began to expand, its cries in pain apparent, until it exploded outward. Raging winds from the spell scraped across the landscape, and battered the form of a now completely white haired sorceress, drained of almost all of her magic. A small smile came to her features as her body fell towards the springs below.

'I did it… but I guess it's the end.' She thought weakly as she sunk into a spring. A cruelly amused voice echoed in her mind.

"_For now, yes, but your adventure is FAR from over." _It was the last thing she heard before the lack of air in her lungs overcame her, and her vision slowly faded away.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma bolted up in her bed. Sweating, she looked around for a few seconds before giving herself a slap upside the head in annoyance. She sometimes had dreams pertaining to the past, but a few of them mostly revolved around her being a child around Luna. The woman blatantly bordered on being a complete sadist or something when around child Lina.

Then there were other random dreams as well that occurred. One in particular involved an incredibly scantly clad and big breasted woman with a laugh that made Kodachi's tame. Shaking the disturbing thought out of her mind, she proceeded to try and figure out what the time was. Her eyes spotted a clock on the wall, possibly magical like most of the other crud in the place. Her mouth formed a frown when she saw that it was just 5AM.

Feeling that no more sleep will be coming to her at the moment, the redhead slipped out of bed and walked across the room to the dormitory door. Grabbing the knob, she gave it a small twist and opened it enough so as to not cause any creaking. Stepping out, she began sneaking quietly up the stairs to the Slytherin common room. Once there, she looked around and didn't see a soul. When she took another step, a small furry blur collided into her.

"Hi momma!" Laira announced happily at the downed girl. Shaking the stars out of her vision, Ranma looked at the happy little cabbit.

"When did you get here, Laira?"

"Just now after I felt you wake up. I decided we could both explore this place a little. It'd be so much fun, momma." Her lavender eyes sparkled in glee. "Just like adventuring through space. Just you and me."

"You kind of stink at flying in ship mode though, Laira." The 11-year-old said with a frown. For some reason, the young cabbit would end up crashing back down onto the Earth, or other celestial bodies, whenever she went into ship form.

"I'm getting better though, momma. I only crash seven out of ten times now." A small pout formed on the cabbit's face. Rolling her eyes, Ranma gave Laira a pat on the head.

"Alright, let's go explore this place. We'll make it a small training exercise. The objective: Exploring without being caught. This will test our stealth, senses, and certain other abilities… consider us like ghosts for now."

"Ok momma." The tiny cabbit pulled out a white napkin from… somewhere and put it around her like a cloak; covering all except her face. She received a questioning look from the redhead. "Well, you said we'll be like ghosts."

"Err… right. Well, let's go." Both girl and cabbit walked quickly and quietly to the entrance of the Slytherin house. Stopping for a few seconds, Ranma poked her head thought the hidden passage and looked around on the other side. Seeing nothing but snoring paintings, she motioned for Laira to follow.

Ever so quietly, they moved down the long passageway towards the flight of stone steps. Ranma's senses straining to listen for any presence. Her eyes caught a glimpse of something vague coming down. Grabbing Laira, she jumped to the side of the steps in a small alcove and kneeled. Both pairs of eyes spotted some weird little man in wildly, colorful clothing. His face seemed to show a mischievous side, and, oddly, he was floating in the air looking around with his beady eyes.

"Hmm… I thought I saw something. Maybe a little student to torment? No?" His eyes weren't able to spot anything out of the ordinary. "Too bad, I'll just have to find something else to… do." His form rose up, and he disappeared through the ceiling. After a few seconds of waiting, Ranma came out of the alcove.

'Who the hell was that?' She thought watching the spot that the weird little man disappeared through. 'No ordinary Hogwarts ghost, that's for sure.'

'He looked kind of evil.' Her cabbit said on their link. She hoped she never encountered him alone.

'If he does anything to you, he'll be eating that colorful hat of his.' Continuing up the stairs, there was nothing that seemed too odd, just a bunch of sleeping paintings. After several minutes, they spotted the top of the stairs. Poking her head over the top step, Ranma twitched her ears for any noise in the near vicinity. Finding none, she motioned for Laira to follow. They snuck past the doors to the Great Hall and made their way to the opening to the far right of the great hall.

The opening had stairs that lead downward. Figuring why not, they proceeded down the stone steps until they came to the bottom. Following the path, Ranma's ears heard some noise coming from the wall. Looking in the direction, she caught site of a painting of a bowl of fruit. Walking closer, there was a vague smell of food cooking, and things being clanged.

Carefully poking her head through, she was in awe to see that it was the kitchen. Stepping through, her eyes looked around at the massive room she was now in was just that… massive. There were four long wooden tables that seemed similar to the ones in the Great Hall. Brass pots and pans were found around the place, as well as a large brick fireplace. House Elves were running about, getting food ready for the breakfast that would start in just a little while. One of the creatures spotted Ranma, walked up to her, and gave a bow.

"Good morning Miss, welcome to Hogwarts Kitchen." The elf's eyes then lay upon Laira. "Is creature pet of Miss's?" Glaring at the 'pet' comment, the small cabbit jumped into the redhead's arms.

"I'm not a pet! I'm Laira"

"Forgive this house elf then, Laira." It said with a bow. "What is pleasure of visit? Is Miss hungry?" Ranma ignored the 'Miss' remark and shook her head. It was tempting, but another thought came to her mind.

"No thank you. Say… would you happen to know of a place in this castle which would allow me to practice my abilities without worrying about damaging the place, or attracting attention?" She received a vigorous nod.

"Oh yes Miss. Kipsol knows. The Come and Go room provides all one's needs."

"Where is this Come and Go room?"

"On seventh floor. Across from painting depicting man training trolls in ballet." Ranma's eyebrow rose at the thought of trolls performing ballet. "One must need it. Walk past hidden entrance three times and think of what one really needs. It is sure to be there."

"Thanks for the info." Her ear twitched at the sound of a door opening. Looking behind her, she noticed that the wall she came through became a door. Two people stepped through the door. Their hair was a flaming red like that Ron boy, and they seemed to be twins. Both also seemed to be on the short and stocky side. When they stepped through, their eyes caught sight of Ranma and seemed to light up.

"What do we have here, Fred?" The one on the right asked with a hint of mirth. The other on the left followed suit.

"I'm not sure George. It looks like the new Slytherin girl who came yesterday. See, she even has the cat ears and tail." Both boys started walking around the 11-year-old like sharks to prey. "Her hair is a nice shade of red too. You could almost mistake her for a sibling of ours."

"So what are you…" Fred started

"Doing here, Slytherin girl?" George finished. Both twins poking the girl's ears, causing them to twitch with each touch. The redheaded martial artist/sorceress narrowed her eyes.

"We're just exploring the castle. Call it stealth training, sneaking around to figure out a few things and all that."

"We?" Both the twins asked in confusion, not seeing anyone else around. Their eyes then caught sight of the small creature they never saw in the arms of the new Slytherin.

"What's that thing?" George asked as he poked the little creature in the cheek. It looked like some cross between a cat and rabbit. Said creature slapped his hand away and glared at him.

"I'm **_NOT_** a thing! Am I momma?" Laira asked to her redheaded link partner.

"Momma?" Both the Weasley twins asked at once. They noticed how the girl seemed to get a little uncomfortable when being referred to by that word. Fred's eyes twinkled, and he gave a nudge and smile to his brother, who followed his lead.

"It must be a wonderful thing being a mother." Fred began, acting all dramatic. "No better joy in life than taking care of a young life."

"You DO feed her right, don't you? Put her to bed; sing her lullabies, and all that good stuff, right?" George asked with wide eyes full of mirth. For a second, it almost seemed like the eyes of the redheaded girl in front of them flashed red.

"If you don't stop right now…"

"You'll go tell on us to a teacher, possibly Snape, right Slytherin girl?" Fred asked in amusement. The amusement was short lived when said girl grabbed his collar and brought his nose just inches from hers. George brought out his wand, ready to help his brother if the girl tried anything. His worry turned to relief when his brother was released.

"Whatever, it's not worth it." Ranma sighed out. She sometimes found herself having a slight short temper. A temper she often managed to control with the Soul of Ice technique. The two boys in front of her just weren't worth it. They didn't seem to be fighters of any kind, nor did they seem to want to cause any real harm. Why do something that could end up making a couple people enemies? She really didn't want to walk down that road again, causing unneeded people out to get her and all. Such as these two who for some reason reminded her of a certain Nabiki Tendo.

"What do you mean 'not worth it'?" Not that it really bothered him. At least he wasn't going to be sporting any bruises or anything.

"It's just as I said. There's no honor in fighting someone who's not a fighter." The twins' eyes widened at that. Honor? From a Slytherin? Sure, maybe amongst themselves, but they never really met one who actually preached about it. They watched as the redhead walked over to a near wall and leaned against it… only to have the wall whip open and her fall through. "Ouch! My head! Damn castle."

The eyes of the twins stayed wide. A secret passage they themselves never found. Moving quickly towards the opening, they looked on as the cat girl rubbed the back of her head and cursed. The small creature in her arms was looking in slight worry. "How many times have we been in the kitchens and never found this, Fred?" George asked his redheaded brother.

"Quite a few times. Nice find there Slytherin girl." He received a slight glare from the sitting 11-year-old.

"I have a name you know. It's Lina." It pissed her off that they kept calling her 'girl'. "Also, this here is Laira." She added, showing the cabbit to them. The two boys nodded and helped her up and gave a smile.

"Nice job then, Lina. You found a passage neither of us ever found. The name's Fred by the way. This here is my brother George." His eyes then looked between the two. "So, why don't we see where this passage goes?" Ranma gave a shrug and a nod. Besides, what could be at the end of the narrow staircase that would be extremely dangerous? Too bad she forgot for a moment how her life tends to be.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"What the **_bloody hell_** was that?!" George asked panting along with his two other, three other if you count Laira, companions. They were back down in the kitchens after their adventure through the passage. Ranma looked at him with huge eyes.

"Are you blind? That was a freaking huge dog… a **_THREE HEADED _**dog. With very long and sharp teeth and claws." That settled it… the whole school itself WAS off its rocker. Having an honest to goodness large as hell three headed vicious dog INSIDE the school where students lived.

Fred and George both looked at each other and shared a smile. "That was a fantastic mini adventure. We could have got eaten, but we didn't."

"The Weasley Twins survive another adventure unscathed." Fred supplied back. "Maybe this is one adventure that's best kept top secret?" His brother nodded sagely.

"Quite right you are Fred. No telling how many people would want to see that dog. As much fun it is to prank people, it would be too deadly. It would also not be wise to have people disbelieve this and see for themselves."

"Let's also remember that the area between here and there seems to be quite secluded, an excellent place to be secretive." Both of them rested their arms on Ranma's shoulders. "You did good Lina. You should check out the Forbidden Forest sometime. There's loads more interesting creatures in there. It's also quite fun to sneak around in."

"Assuming you don't get caught that is."

"Very true George, very True indeed. I now believe it's time we get a move on." The twins walked away laughing, and disappeared beyond the entrance they first came in. Leaving Ranma to just stand there and stare after them.

"What… just happened?" She simply asked to no one in particular. Laira looked up at her and was unable to figure it out herself.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After getting back to the dormitories, it was time to put on her school uniform and robe. Cursing for the umpteenth time about the damn skirt, knee socks, and buckle shoes, the redhead made her way out of the Slytherin house and towards the Great Hall. Laira had opted to stay behind in the dormitories, still too spooked from the run in from the demon dog to explore the castle.

Making her way out of the Slytherin house, Ranma made her way up the long stone stairway until she found herself in the Entrance Hall. Turning, she made her way towards the Great Hall. As she walked, her eyes caught sight of a girl who was also 11-year-old in conversation with some older student. She had long blonde hair and clear blue eyes, and Ranma vaguely recognized her from the sorting ceremony.

She was obviously from Slytherin, from the green and silver tie and boarder on the vest. Ranma's thoughts suddenly remembered seeing her with the group as they made there way to the dormitories.

The older student was a boy of around 17 or so. His hair was dark blonde, bordering near black, and from the coloring on his uniform, appeared to be of Ravenclaw. The redhead's eyes could see that the girl seemed to be uncomfortable, and her ears managed to pick up the conversation.

"I mean really, little sister. What would our parents think? Their own daughter put in the house of Slytherin. Do you realize how many people in that house have become dark wizards?" His younger sibling's eyes started to moisten.

"I… I don't know. The hat told me it sensed a lot of traits that would make me feel at home in Gryffindor, but my desire and ambition to prove to mom and dad that I'm as good as you made it put me in Slytherin." Her voice softly said. The tall boy in front of her just gave off a sigh.

"And that will be your downfall that will lead you on the path of terrible things. Oh how I feel for you." He simply said. Ranma had enough of this and walked up towards the pompous jackass.

"You know, a guy shouldn't make a girl cry. It makes him look like some honorless creep." Ranma thought this very well. Since back then **_HE_** felt that making girls cry was the sign of a bastard who was **_NOT_** a man, but a poor fool. The tall boy in front of her just looked at her with bored eyes before speaking.

"Ah yes, I remember seeing you. You're that cat girl of Slytherin." The redhead's eye twitched at 'cat girl'. "What may I ask would a Slytherin know about honor? What I've seen in these seven years is that you Slytherin will say one thing, but then go around and do the other. It's as if the concept of this 'honor' is just a game to you." A small hand reached up and grabbed his collar. He was then brought to eye level with the redhead, and the dual colored eyes he was staring into flashed vivid red.

"Questioning my honor is not a thing you would like to cross, Windbag." Her nose was inches from his, making the taller boy sweat. The air also seemed to cool down for some reason. "Just because your sister is in Slytherin does not mean she'll turn out evil. Having someone to help her, such as family, from making bad choices would prevent that."

It was true in a way. Many times as Ranma Saotome, **_HE _**would often feel the weight of it all on his shoulders and wonder if it would just be better to forget about it all. It was people like Kasumi, Nodoka (In her own way), Dr. Tofu, and many citizens of Nerima who actually appreciated what he did in that life. People who were kind and thanked him for his help in their problems. Because of that, he was able to keep on doing what he did, and not end up breaking down and doing things that he'd probably regret.

"What would you know, Slytherin?" The boy in front of her sneered as he regained his composure. That 'windbag' comment got to him greatly. A slight crowd was forming around them, interested in the little confrontation between a short 11-year-old first year girl with cat features, and a tall 17-year-old seventh year boy. Although the strange chill in the air kept them from getting too close.

"What IS going on here?" The strict voice of Professor McGonagall asked as she cut through the crowd to find the new girl in the face of an older student. "Miss Malfoy, Mister Negia, what is the meaning of this?" The head of Gryffindor watched as the young redhead released the boy, looked in her direction, and pointed at the tall boy.

"It's nothing much. The pompous windbag of a jackass here just pissed me off with his attitude towards his younger sister there. A guy should not try to make a girl cry." McGonagall stared at her for a few seconds before speaking.

"Five points from Slytherin for using such language and causing a distraction Miss Malfoy." She then looked at the boy. "Five points from Ravenclaw for also causing a scene Mr. Negia. Now, will everyone please clear out and head into the Great Hall for breakfast?" As the teacher walked through and into the Great Hall, the boy gave her a glare.

"This isn't over." He whispered as he entered the Hall. Ranma watched after him and rolled her eyes.

'So what else is new? Not a day and possibly already make an enemy.' The boy's sister walked up to her and bowed her head.

"I'm sorry I got you in trouble and caused our house to lose some points." Her eyes saw the redhead shake her head and smile.

"No problem, the windbag angered me anyway." She held out her hand. "I'm Lina Malfoy… sorry for the disturbance." The girl in front of her gave a small smile and shook her hand.

"Gosaria Negia… and thanks."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"My brother's in Ravenclaw, and our parents have been in Ravenclaw, and they hoped that I would have been put in Ravenclaw as well. That hope changed when I seemed to not be as… intelligent as them, nor did I seem as talented as my brother Quintinsy. They all hoped that I'd at LEAST be put in Hufflepuff. Although now that it's found out I'm in Slytherin…" Gosaria finished, putting her head down on the table.

Ranma stopped in her eating and looked at the distraught girl. She didn't have a damn clue what to really do, but figured she'd wing it like she did with Laira. "Ignore it and just get on with doing whatever it is you want to do. They don't like it? Well screw them. You said you have the desire and ambition to prove to your family that you don't suck? Put those traits to good use and become BETTER than your brother without caring what they think. Do it for YOURSELF." The redhead stopped and realized just how much of what she said was never even put to use back in her previous life as a Saotome, much less even thought about. 'Now why the hell couldn't I have followed that damn advice back then?' She asked herself with a mental slap to the head.

Across the table, Pansy looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "That was all… kind of sappy you two." Ranma scratched the back of her head at the statement. She was about to respond when the whole room started to whisper to each other. Listening in, the redhead was able to hear them talking about 'a boy with glasses' and 'the kid with a scar'. Draco made a small snort.

"Damn Potter. He's only popular because of something that happened when he was a baby. A thing HE doesn't even remember." Ranma just looked at her brother and shrugged. It's not like it affected anybody in the slightest.

"Does it really matter?" She asked curiously? The pale eyed boy looked at her

"**_Famous Potter_** will probably get special treatment. Just because he's _'The Boy Who Lived'_." Ranma could only blink at the malice in the blonde boy's voice regarding that Harry kid. She was about to say something when owls started to pour in from the windows. Dropping letters, papers, and other things on the tables near the students. Something that LOOKED like an owl (At least Ranma was sure it was, but it was a weird color and had a pair of antennae on its head) dropped a package in front of the redhead.

Sure enough, it was from Washu. Opening the package, her eyes laid upon a letter and a book. She frowned when she saw the book was titled '**_Thermodynamics Made Easy'_**. "Damn it Washu. Can't I get a break from the scientifical crap while I'm here? My brain is going to bust if you keep doing this." She proceeded to drop her head against the table and groan. Draco picked up the book and took a look at it… only to have his eyes glaze over at not being able to understand a single solitary thing. He didn't know if it was magical stuff or muggle crap, and actually felt sorry for his sister having to read all these weird things.

Next was the letter that arrived with the book. It was from Washu in Japanese, so she didn't have to worry about anyone else reading it.

_Dear Student of Mine_

_Do you honestly think knowledge rests? Staying at that place for so long without exercising your mind will rot away your intelligence. I did not teach you for nine years only to have you become lax in your studies. I hope you also manage to find a place to practice your Martial Arts and Sorcery. Maybe you can share the book with that friend of yours, Hermione. I bet she'd love it. Maybe when you finish the year, you could bring her with you. _

_Oh yes, and Kasumi, Akane, your Auntie Nodoka, and your little cousin Sakura wish you well. Akane and Nodoka would like to remind you to **NOT** get into any trouble._

_Well, so long!_

_Greatest Scientific Genius in the Entire Universe, Washu Hakubi._

What do they take me for, a little child? '_Not get into any trouble'_ indeed. Jeez Akane, I'm practically the same age as you… well maybe not in body, but I am in mind. Her eyes looked up to see everyone at the table staring. "What's everyone looking at?"

Gosaria was the first to speak. "You were sitting there and reading a letter in a different language. Then you get in a huff and start ranting off about something in a different language. Then before that, you were whining about someone named Washu and your brain busting. You also banged your head against the table." Everyone at the table laughed at the flustered redhead.

'I have yet to figure out why people hate Slytherin. They seem like a bunch of normal people to me.' Ranma thought to herself. Wondering if she'll figure out the true reason or not. It was then that her schedule was handed out to her. Glancing down, she studied it. 'Thursday… Defense Against the Dark Arts… History of Magic… hmm. Oh, Friday only has a double morning class of Potions, then the rest of the day off. Maybe I'll go searching for that 'Come and Go Room' then.'

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The bell sounded at 9:00am, ending breakfast and the start of classes. The first subject, Defense Against the Dark Arts, was located on the second floor of the school. Getting there was actually a thing in itself. While heading up the stairs, the first several steps that Ranma stepped on vanished into thin air. This caused the redhead to fall and land on her rear. Her reaction to this was a colorful usage of several words that not even she thought she had in her, and several threats of harm to the steps.

After passing that obstacle, the next one involved a staircase that actually swung itself so that the end was positioned in the middle of the air. It was only like that for a minute before returning to its original position. Ranma was glad for that, since she didn't want to use any of her more… interesting abilities in public just yet and scare people.

When she finally got to the door to her Defense class, she found out that the door wouldn't even let her through unless she tickled it. After a few minutes of arguing with the large slab of wood, she wondered why she even decided to come to Hogwarts in the first place. 'Ah yes' she thought to herself as she tickled the door. 'To be an auror and put all my skills to use. Maybe I'll give the Old Fart a visit to see if I really have to be at this school.'

When she finally got into the classroom, she saw that the teacher was none other than the nervous man she saw in the Leaky Cauldron. He still gave her an odd feeling, but it was stronger this time. There was also a terrible smell of garlic that hung in the room that made the redhead's sense of smell to haywire. The smell that lingered around the turban the guy wore was even worse. Because of this, she felt as if her breakfast was going to come back up and say hello.

"You ok Lina?" Gosaria asked as she watched the cat eared girl standing there with her hands covering her face, while tears seemed to want to stream out of her eyes. Draco noticed this and put a sympathetic hand on his sister's shoulder.

"Her sense of smell is more sensitive, and I'm sure this room is making her feel like getting sick. Are you going to be ok, sis?" The pale eyed boy asked in concern. Gosaria also seemed to be a little concerned for her new friend.

"W… what's g… g… going on h… here?" A nervous voice asked coming towards the trio. Professor Quirrell noticed distressed state the redhead seemed to be in. "A… are you ok M…m… Miss?" He leaned down a bit to get a bitter look at the girl who seemed a little green. Said girl seemed to get even more uncomfortable with him getting closer.

'Oh Kami-sama… the smell.' Ranma thought as the smell got stronger the closer the guy came. The 'off' feeling also seemed to get worse and worse. The 11-year-old finally couldn't take it anymore and fell forward onto her hands and knees, releasing some of the contents that were her breakfast before succumbing to darkness.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma's eyes fluttered open not long after her impromptu nap to find herself in a hospital bed. Sitting up, she was greeted by her brother and Gosaria. "Glad to see that you are ok Lina." The redhead could see that Draco was worried about her. "After you fainted…"

"I don't faint." Ranma supplied quickly. "My body strategically assesses the situation and shuts down to protect myself from any further danger."

"Err… right." His sister could be so stubborn and weird at times. "Well after you did whatever you did, Professor Quirrell asked Gosaria and me to bring you to the Hospital Wing." The girl to the right of him gave a nod.

"It was so gross. I thought I was going to be the next one to puke." The blue eyed girl recounted with a hint of green in her face.

"How long was I out?"

"Not too long. Defense Against the Dark Arts is almost over. The next class we have is History of Magic. Seeing as how you seem to be fine now, I'm sure the nurse will allow you to leave." As if on cue, Madam Pomfrey stepped into view to check on Ranma.

Madam Pomfrey was a strict woman with slightly graying hair who took her job very seriously. With students who frequently come in due to spell backfire, potion blunders, broken appendages, and other such issues, slacking off was not an option. "You seem to be doing fine Miss Malfoy. You still seem a little green, but otherwise in good health. I **_will_** have to have a chat with the Headmaster about this little incident. We don't want you falling unconscious again, nor do we want Mr. Filch to clean up such a… mess. The man was complaining about how much there was, and that it couldn't possibly have come from a normal child." The face of her patient turned an interesting color of red.

"I… have a healthy appetite."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

History of Magic proved to be excruciatingly boring. Ranma was actually surprised to see that a ghost was the teacher of the class. She heard a slight rumor that the guy died in his sleep and hasn't realized it yet. It made absolutely no sense at all. How could you **_NOT _**know that you are dead? Prof. Binns was currently reading a passage out of some book called '**_The Great Era and Downfall of Widely Known Magic_'**. It had to do with things almost a little over 1500 years ago.

The redhead just sat there with her head resting on the palm of her hand. The droning was boring, but after spending nine years being lectured by a super genius in things like '**_The Inner Workings of 15,000 years of Jurai Royal History_**', this couldn't even compare. She was still half asleep, but managed to hear bits and pieces.

"… The great… Enemy of All Who Live… Dragon Spooker… Lina Inverse" The bits and pieces right there broke her out of the border of reality and sleep.

'Huhwha?' The redhead thought intelligently as she shook her head of the sleep that was trying to overtake her.

"… Also rarely known as Lina the Pink Sorceress." Binns finished as he began to turn the page. The ghost's weary looking eyes located the top of the next page and began to droll on again. "She was one of many in the world of magic to be able to conjure it without the use of a medium. The ability to conjure magic without a medium was common in the times before the **_Magical Cataclysm_** and **_Dilution of Magical Ability_**. **_Dilution of Magical Ability_** refers to the fact that witches and wizards now these days require the use of a medium, mostly a wand, to perform their magic due to a large drop in the mana flows within their body. It is rare for individuals to be able to perform focused magic without a medium. Unfocused magic is highly probable, but is also dangerous and erratic. Many exotic spells have since died out and became forgotten with the demise of the Pink Sorceress and many of those whose magical talent stayed just as strong and died with them."

'That's actually interesting.' Now the redhead knew why everyone around here needed a stupid piece of wood to do their magic. It's because the magical ability inside of them has diluted to a point where they NEED to have a twig to use it properly. Otherwise they could cause massive damage.

Looking around her, she noticed that every student seemed to be either dozing or just plain blissfully unaware of the world around them. Her brother had slight drool coming from his mouth and onto the desk. Gosaria seemed to be snoring a bit. Crabbe and Goyle had glazed looks in their eyes as they looked towards the ceiling with their backs against their chairs. Millicent was watching a fly buzz around her head. Many other students were just plain out of it.

'Damn it Washu. Because of you I can't even enjoy a peaceful nap during this. Is there anyone else immune to this crap, or am I the only one?' She thought dejectedly as she looked forward.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Across the school in Transfiguration class, a certain bushy haired girl sneezed. That sneeze almost made her mess up in her transfiguring of the match in front of her. Thankfully she was able to refrain from casting the spell at that moment.

"Bless you Miss Granger." Prof. McGonagall stated as she walked around the classroom examining each student's progress.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

History of Magic was finally over, and Ranma was bouncing on her feet. "Yeah! Lunch time!" She was feeling famished since her stomach purged itself earlier of her food, and she hadn't had anything for those two hours. Gosaria looked at her with a raised eyebrow as they made their way to the Great Hall.

"Just don't get sick again, Lina. That's not a sight anybody should see." She received a slight pout from her new friend. Coming closer to their destination, the redhead smiled. Coming towards them was Hermione. Said bushy haired girl also smiled at seeing her friend.

"How are you doing Hermione?"

"I'm doing great. Morning classes went well. Although I almost messed up on a spell I was doing in Transfiguration because I sneezed." If she messed that up, there was no telling how she'd be able to live with that. "How was your day Lina, and who's your friend?"

"Err… I had a slight problem with some smells in Defense Against the Dark Arts..."

"She fainted due to the smells." The blonde girl said with a little amusement. "I'm Gosaria Negia by the way. Nice to meet you." The two girls shook hands.

"I did **_NOT_** faint." The redhead stated in indignation. "My body strategically assessed the situation and shut down to protect myself from…"

"You fainted." Gosaria said with a smile, which caused Hermione to giggle before introducing herself to the girl. "Hermione Granger." Ranma gave a huff and ventured on into the Great Hall. Her blue/red eyes widened when she caught sight of someone heading down the walkway. She raised an arm and gave a shout.

"HEY OLD FART!!!"

The entire Great Hall went dead silent as Dumbledore turned around. Gosaria and Hermione looked at Ranma with eyes as wide as saucers. Whispering was running rampant amongst those who heard the shout. The teachers themselves were shocked senseless at the fact that a student would have the nerve to call the Headmaster of Hogwarts an Old Fart. Everyone held their breath as the silver bearded headmaster seemed to glide up to the 11-year-old needing to learn respect. The slightly crooked nose of Albus Dumbledore looked down on the child. After a few seconds, he spoke.

"Good afternoon to you too, Miss Malfoy. I see you still choose to call me by that after nine years." His eyes twinkled with unseen mirth. The girl in front of him was proving to bring some amusement to the school. The redhead gave him a smirk that was known to cause many to bristle.

"Of course I do. You're still older than a fart, although not as ancient as the Old Ghoul and Old Pervert." She added as an afterthought which was only heard by the elderly man in front, and the two girls to the side of her that were slightly confused. Dumbledore gave a jolly laugh.

"I guess I am just that. These old bones HAVE seen better days." The response in the Great Hall was unanimous and quick; a massive face fault that shook the very foundation of the school itself. That response was **_NOT_** even close to what anybody was even anticipating. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this meeting to, Miss Malfoy?" Ranma was about to speak when the headmaster raised his hand. "It would probably be better to discuss it later. After you finish up your classes for the day, come to my office. I'm sure one of the teachers will be more than happy to escort you."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The rest of the day was _almost_ uneventful… at least in the opinion of Ranma herself. Transfiguration appeared to be slightly boring, and Professor McGonagall seemed to be a woman who would not put up with any nonsense. What piqued Ranma's interest was the fact that the woman could actually turn into a cat and back with nary a thought. When asked about it, the strict woman gladly supplied the answer.

"I'm an Animagus, Miss Malfoy. An Animagus is a wizard or witch capable of transforming into an animal." Her eyes noticed a sudden interest come to life in the young cat eared girl's features. "Becoming an Animagus is extremely difficult, and one cannot choose the form they turn into. The animal form one would transform into reflects the inner nature of that particular witch or wizard."

The redhead's ears drooped at that realization. 'Damn it' she thought to herself. 'For a second there… ah screw it. I'd probably turn into a mule or something that eats a lot with my luck.' A full blown laugh from Laira announced itself from the other side of their connection. 'I'm sure glad someone finds this amusing.' Ranma thought with sarcasm before she turned back to the lesson.

The lesson plan was to have them turn a match stick into a perfect needle. Glancing at the wand in her hand, the blue/red eyed girl idly wondered if she could ever do something like this without the twig. It was something she'd have to look into later on. Her eyes then turned to the tiny match sitting there. Believing she could do this, she raised the wand to just a little above the match and pumped some of her magic into the wood.

'Match into needle… match into needle.' The mantra kept going in her mind as she lowered the tip of the wand onto the needle. Nothing seemed to happen at first, but the form of the match began to shimmer and turn silver, thin, and pointy. Ranma was about to give a shout of success when the very table she was at suddenly exploded.

Professor McGonagall was at the spot in an instant. She noticed the charred remains of where the desk stood, and the slightly charred form of her cat eared student sitting on the floor. "W… what in the name of Merlin's Beard happened?!" Eyes shining with glee were not an answer she expected as the floored girl pointed.

"Look Professor… the match is now a pin." Sure enough, a pin **_WAS_** lying on the floor in front of the blackened girl. The emerald green robe wearing witch was at a loss for what to say in a situation such as this. Her mind finally came to the perfect response for a situation such as this.

"You did an excellent job Miss Malfoy. You've earned five points to Slytherin for being one of the few who did it, but three points shall be taken away from Slytherin for destroying a desk. Now I just need to contact Mr. Filch and see if he could bring up a new desk." Ranma gave a look to her before shrugging.

"Well at least I managed to get two points back from the incident this morning. Maybe I should cut back on how much magic I pump into the wand... I shouldn't pump enough to down an elephant I guess." Ranma mumbled to herself as she scratched the side of her head in thought. This act caused several sweat drops around her.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Charms class had a slight 'Ranma Touch' added to it as well. Professor Flitwick, a tiny and slightly energetic old man who had to stand on a stack of books, decided their first lesson should involve a charm that creates hot air. Something that would be good to use on wet clothes and snow. The spell was a non verbal one that only requires the correct wand movement.

"Now students, please follow this wand movement." The small and bearded professor proceeded to do two circles and a quick jab with the wand. The effect was a wave of warm air.

Ranma decided to decrease the amount of magic she pumped into the wand a little bit. Only pumping about half of the magic she did during Transfiguration, she repeated the motion that the tiny man showed them. What came out was a large stream of fire that sailed over the head of Flitwick. Singing a couple of stray hairs, and knocking him off his books with a squeak of terror.

Climbing back onto his books, he pointed a small finger towards the redheaded girl. "It wasn't the right charm, but it sure was something for a first year. Six points awarded to Slytherin for a fantastic bit of fire magic. However there will be a three point reduction from Slytherin for singing some of my hair."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After Charms and a small break, it was Herbology in Greenhouse One. The class was uneventfully boring. It involved some slug-like plant called a bubotuber, and for some reasons the redhead felt pangs of nervousness around the plant. Herbology then lead to dinner, and dinner lead to right now.

Ranma was making her way to wherever Dumbledore's office was. Of course, she didn't have the foggiest idea of where to look. The least he could have done was to tell her where it was. She probably would have to find a teacher to ask, but which one?

Her blue/red eyes spotted someone leaving a room. "Excuse me, would you know how to get to Professor Dumbledore's office?" The person turned around and she frowned. It was the greasy haired guy who acted like he had something shoved up his ass. He looked at her with a slightly bored expression on his pale face before speaking.

"Ah yes" the voice sent a disturbing chill down Ranma's back. "Good evening Miss Malfoy. I remember your little… confrontation with the headmaster during lunch today. He sent us teachers word that if you asked one of us, that we should escort you to his office." The 11-year-old nodded and reluctantly followed the man towards her destination.

It took several minutes of climbing stairs, some of which kept on moving from the desired location to another, before they found themselves in front of a stone gargoyle. Ranma wondered what the purpose was until the man mumbled something that she missed. The gargoyle came to life and jumped down, opening up a secret set of staircases that led upwards.

"Well, come on." The man ordered as he started up the stairs. Ranma silently followed the greasy haired man up the set of spiral stairs until they came to a closed door at the top. Before any of them could knock, a voice called out from inside.

"Come in you two." The door was opened, and both walked in to see Albus Dumbledore standing in the middle of his room. The elderly wizard gave a smile. "Good evening Severus. I'm glad to see that you brought Miss Malfoy here without a problem." Professor Snape gave a slight nod before he turned around and left the room, leaving Ranma to glance around.

The room was round and had several windows. A few of the windows provided a good view of the mountains, while a few others faced some kind of field that Ranma had no clue about. There were numerous silver objects and knickknacks spread around the room. The people in the portraits were all staring intently in her direction.

"How are you this evening Lina?" The headmaster finally asked

"Ranma"

"What was that?"

"I am Ranma. I'm really getting tired of having to be referred to as Lina. That name is just a disguise I'm using, as well as the name of a long dead sorceress. No matter what those memories I sometimes get say." The elderly man in front stared for a long moment before responding.

"Then what can I do for you Ranma?"

"I want to know if I really have to stay at this school to become one of those aurors. Why can't I just apply to be one instead? I have the ability for it, and frequent training will only help me as well." Seriously, why else would she even need to be here?

Dumbledore sat in the seat behind his claw-footed desk and looked at the young girl. "Tell me Ranma" He started. "In the non magical world, doesn't one have to have a certain amount of school experience if they wish to have a certain job position? They may have the experience, but they wouldn't have the schooling and proof needed to show they qualify." A reluctant not from the redhead made him smile. "The magical world is similar in that aspect. The aurors require that their members have full schooling and have O.W.L and N.E.W.T. scores in tip top shape."

"Owls and Newts?" Ranma asked in confusion. What did those two animals have to do with anything? Her answer was a light laugh.

"They aren't animals Ranma. They are large tests taken in the fifth through seventh years. They are the Ordinary Wizarding Level in fifth year and Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test in sixth and seventh years. Places such as the Ministry of Magic require their employees to possess superb grades in those. The Aurors are part of a department in the Ministry, and they have some of the strictest requirements. You can't get in without having at least five Exceeds Expectations in five courses." He received an incredulous look from the redhead.

"You've got to be kidding me." A sigh then escaped her mouth. "I guess I have some work ahead of me then." Her eyes looked around and focused on something else. "Hey, what's the thing that looks almost like a molting turkey?" Dumbledore followed her gaze and his eyes twinkled.

"That's Fawkes the phoenix." Ranma's eyes widened as she got up and walked up to the fowl. Her hand reached out towards the bird to touch its beak. She almost jumped when the creature leaned its head forward and allowed her hand to pet its head.

"I've met two phoenixes before. One was the leader of a tribe from Phoenix Mountain in China, although he was humanoid with wings and claws and tried to kill me. The other was more like a fat and round head ornament that sat on the head of some guy who hated my guts." She had to give a smile to the ugly turkey that seemed to like her. Breaking away, she gave a bow to the headmaster. "It was a pleasure to talk with you Old Fart."

"I had the same pleasure Lina." He saw the slight glare from the redhead as she began to walk away. Just as she walked out the door, he called out. "One more thing I need to say Lina! Do not be afraid to embrace all three of your incarnations into one. Ignoring and trying to forget who you were and are will only cause you great stress later on down the road. We don't want you to end up snapping" He closed the door before she could give a retort.

'Sure it will.' Ranma thought sarcastically as she headed down the spiral staircase. 'Who does he take me for?'

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"The cat eared girl could prove troublesome." A small and weak voice said quietly. Professor Quirrell looked around nervously.

"Y… you think sh… she could be a p… p… problem master?"

"I'm not sure. She knows something is up with you, so it's a possibility that she could learn of me. We must keep a close watch on her, as well as the Potter boy. I still want my revenge against the boy."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ravenclaw students were slightly worried about one of their own. The guy was sitting in a chair in the common room with his hands clasped together, and a sinister smirk was plastered on his face. "Think you can act all big and humiliate me do you? Well you've got another think coming cat eared bitch." The laugh he gave off caused those around him to run to there dormitories in fear.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Somewhere in the bushes of the school grounds, a pair of eyes was peeking out of the bushes. They studied the area closely before disappearing. "So the girl is finally at Hogwarts eh? I wonder how well she has kept up with her training. She's too young for my usual antics, but let's see what I could do to liven things up a bit." The voice broke into a cackle before a shadowy figure bounded away… only to be caught in the mouth by a large dog.

"Fang! It's time to come in you mangy dog!" Hagrid shouted out onto the grounds. With a whip of its head, the boarhound tossed whatever it had in its mouth into the trees and bounded into the hut.

"Oooowwww…."

xxxA.N.xxxx

This chapter actually took a large turn. Originally it was going to be the first week of classes or so. It would have included the potions lesson, flying practice, and ending with a little thing on the Midnight Duel chapter. It ended up flowing in a different direction and detailing Ranma's first day at Hogwarts though. As well as a few things that weren't originally thought up as I was planning the chapter.

Now I need to completely organize my thoughts on the next chapter.

Oh, and thanks for all the reviews! Many of them have included fun ideas, and others have been a joy to read.


	8. The Crimson Eyed Flaming Devil Girl

Wild Magic

Ranma 1/2, Slayers, and any other series used in this fanfic are owned by their respective creators/publishers/whatever

Thanks to the reviewers who have commented, and to the people who provided some interesting and fun ideas that were just… fun to think about and **_COULDN'T_** be passed up.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Chapter 8

"Lina"

"Mmna" The sleepy reply of a redhead fast asleep under the covers of a four poster bed sounded. Well more like her covers were strewn about with her entangled in such ways that seemed almost impossible. "Pickled jellyfish and cucumbers are so tasty…" She muttered as some drool was hanging from her open mouth.

'Pickled jellyfish and cucumbers? What kind of dreams does she have?' Gosaria wondered as she watched her friend snore with a little bit of drool hanging out. "It's time to get up Lina!" She said a little more forcefully this time.

"That's my sweetened eel Naga… get your own." She mumbled as she turned over onto her side.

"Have I mentioned that I think she's a little bit weird?" Millicent asked as she watched the cat girl sleep like she never saw before. "If she doesn't wake up soon, she'll miss breakfast."

"Breakfast?" A small question asked as a certain redhead's eyes fluttered open.

"Ah! She lives!" The mock scream of Daphne Greengrass announced, causing a round of laughs from everyone present. The only one who wasn't laughing was Ranma, who chose to just grumble at them. She then watched as the girls left their dormitory.

A small voice spoke up from next to her. "Hmph! They don't respect the feline's need for sleep." Looking to the voice, Ranma's eyes glanced upon Millicent's black cat sitting on the next bed yawning.

Giving a shrug, the redhead hopped off the bed. "Well I **_AM _**actually a human… just with feline tendencies." To the casual observer, it would almost seem as if she was just making a series of meows. "Now where did Laira get off to?"

"I believe she said something about finding carrots." The black cat said as it stretched. "It's such a fine day for a nap. It's too bad you can't enjoy it." It was almost as if the cat gave a little feline smirk.

"I should really let Millicent know that her cat is an evil little thing." Ranma grumbled as she got dressed and headed out the dorm, leaving a certain black cat to doze peacefully.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma was glad that there was only one class today that she would have. That way she could have time to herself later to find the 'Come and Go Room' the house elves told her about yesterday morning. The class was a double period of Potions with the Gryffindors. Since the Potions classroom was in the dungeons, it wasn't too hard to find. She took a little time yesterday to explore some of that very area.

As she walked into the classroom, she noticed all sorts of jars with pickled animals floating in some kind of liquid. 'The guy must be the life of the party.' The redhead thought sarcastically as she noticed that Hermione was already sitting in her seat. With Gosaria right behind her, the two made there way over to the bushy haired girl. After greeting each other, they sat down to wait for everyone to finish coming in and class to start.

'It's the greasy haired guy from last night.' Ranma noted as she listened to the guy taking roll call. She then watched as the guy stopped for some reason.

"Ah, yes," he said in a pause. "Harry Potter, Our new… _celebrity." _The fur on the redhead's ears and tail began to bristle at the tone of voiced used in Prof. Snape's calling for Harry. "You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making." Ranma had to give a small frown. She wasn't much of a 'potions' maker, especially considering when Washu tried teaching her how to mix chemicals.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx **_(Six years ago)_**

"Ok Ranma, I want to start you on learning how to do chemistry." Washu stated to her student as she lead the little redhead to a stand with a bunch of different colored chemicals. "By learning this skill, you will able to create your own healing items and other interesting things you could put to good use." Ranma looked at her for a second.

"I don't know. I've had tons of problems with potions, chemicals, and all that similar crap back then." She didn't really see why she'd need to learn this stuff. It could only end up backfiring. Her teacher waved her hand a little bit.

"By learning how to mix, create, and brew chemicals, you could learn how to counteract certain ones. You could even create medicine that would be of help to various ailments. Who really knows?" The scientist then pointed to a few potions on the table. "I'm only going to start you out on some of the safer ones. Just use those three right there. The flask and the two tubes on either side of it are the ones you shall be using." Walking a few feet away, Washu watched as the younger redhead reached for the liquids.

'Alright, I just need to pour these two into this flask.' Ranma thought as she began pouring the contents of the tubes into the flask. A blinding light and a big bang later, Ranma was charred from head to toe.

"What the hell happened?" Washu asked walking up. Those three chemicals shouldn't of reacted in that way. Her student gave her a look and a shrug.

It became known to Washu after that, that every few attempts for Ranma to mix chemicals would result in an explosion. Something not even the greatest scientific genius in the universe could figure out.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx **_(end flashback)_**

Shaking out of her thoughts, the redhead vaguely caught what the Potions teacher said. Something about dunderheads or something, and Hermione was sitting on the edge of her seat for some reason. 'Does one with a smart mind always have to try and flaunt it?' She thought to herself, thinking about Washu and Hermione.

"Potter!" Harry wasn't the only one who slightly jumped. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel into an infusion of wormwood?" The question was asked in such a tone that said 'if you don't know this, you're stupid.'

Ranma was almost smacked in the side of the head when Hermione's hand shot up into the air. The redhead then heard Harry's reply. "I… don't know sir." Her eyes narrowed when their professor's lip curled into a sneer.

"Tut, tut… fame **_CLEARLY _**isn't everything." Ranma's ears weren't just bristling, they were standing on end, and her fists began to clench. "Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to go find me a bezoar?" The redhead ignored the fish act that Hermione was doing to get attention. Can't she freaking see that the boy wasn't just being asked questions, but was being **_TORTURED_**? A vein began to get bigger as she saw her brother, Crabbe, and Goyle shaking with laughter.

"I… don't know sir." The boy with the scar said, feeling more depressed over what was going on. An even bigger sneer grew on Snape's face.

"So you thought you shouldn't even bother opening a book before coming? What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

"I don't kno…"

"WILL YOU QUIT ACTING LIKE A FREAKING BASTARD WHO GETS HIS JOLLIES IN TORTURING HIS STUDENTS BY ACTING LIKE HE'S ALL HIGH AND MIGHTY?!!" Ranma shouted as she stood up, a fiery aura surrounding her as her eyes flashed red. "Jeez… what the hell? Did you have some sort of enemy thing going with his father or something? On the other hand, maybe you're just some sadist pervert who finds some thrill in mental torture." She fell into thought for a second. "That would explain the reason for the dungeon setting, pickled animals in glass bottles, and all the other crap." The redhead put her hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh that was threatening to explode. "Professor Sadism… ha ha ha….."

Before she could even blink, Prof. Snape was right in front of her desk. The pale potions master leaned forward and looked at her with his cold black eyes. "I suppose you think you're amusing, Miss Malfoy?" He asked in a voice that sent chills down the students' spines. Unfazed, Ranma leaned forward so that their noses were **_JUST_** touching. Her blue/red eyes again flashed crimson and became cold and hard.

"Not at all… _**Professor**. _I'm just stating my honest to goodness opinion of what I think about you based on the little bit of information I have gathered today. First impressions, **_Professor_**, determine whether the person who's giving the impression will be liked and respected, or despised and ignored." A small smile played across the redhead's face as she looked deep into the black eyes of Snape. "For me… it's the latter. I see nothing to respect or fear from you. I'll just attend this class and do the assignments while not giving a rat's ass about you." She looked at the now red face of Snape.

"Y… you…"

"Yes?"

"Detention! 6:00PM! Here!" He had never been this flustered due to a student before. He always managed to strike the 'Fear of Snape' into them, but this one… this girl acted as if he was just a joke.

"I'll see you there, sir." Ranma said with a mock salute that only infuriated the potions master even more. "I just hope you don't decide to take advantage of poor little old me, Professor Sadism." The redhead said as she made her face as innocent and fearful as she could.

"I hate you." Was the only thing Severus Snape could say.

"And I hate you."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

'I still can't believe I lost my cool like that.' Ranma thought to herself for the umpteenth time since that event in Potions that morning. It was currently after lunch, and the redhead was making her way up the stairs to find the 'Come and Go' room. 'Well the guy shouldn't have been an ass then. Nothing is apparently going to distract him from making Potter's life hell it seems. Neville also seems like he's going to be put through hell. Judging from the way Snape-bastard put fear into him.' She gave a small frown. 'Jeez, Draco seemed to have become some teacher's pet or something. I'll have to have a little talk with him.' She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't watch where she was going and stepped on something.

"Neeeowww!! Why don't you watch where you're walking, you ignorant child?!" Ranma jumped to the side and caught the sight of a scrawny and dust colored cat. The cat's lamp-like eyes glared in her direction as it tried to shake the pain out of its tail. Shaking out of her shock, the redhead gave a bow to the feline.

"I apologize for walking on your tail, miss. I know first hand how much it hurts to have your tail stepped on." Students passing by could only stare at the sight of the cat girl. She was talking casually to a cat through meows, purrs, hisses, and other sounds cats make. The sight of it was a bit… weird. Even for some older students who've been at Hogwarts for a few years.

"Ah, so you patrol the school for students who are causing trouble, and then you go to the grumpy sourpuss guy and inform him there's trouble. He then ventures out to catch the troublemakers." Ranma scratched the bottom of her chin. "How are you able to tell him?"

The cat in front of her gave a little cat shrug. "We've been together for years. That kind of thing is bound to create understanding between two people… even though one is a cat." A shiver appeared around the feline. "It creeps me out when he says 'my sweet' though." Her large eyes scan the students walking by. "Many of these savages despise the fact I tell Filch the rules they are breaking. I've heard many times that they wish they could hive me a quick kick or other unsavory things."

A thought came to Ranma's head, and she gave the small cat a wide and sinister smile. "Mrs. Norris… if anyone around here decides it would be fun to do any terrible things to you, let me know. Us cats DO have to stick together you know." She stuck her hand out.

Hogwarts students watching the pair suddenly felt an odd chill run down their spines as they witnessed a girl and a cat actually giving a hand (or paw) shake, and both were sharing equally disturbing smiles.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Finally reaching her destination, the redheaded martial artist/sorceress caught sight of the tapestry she was told about. Her face turned into a frown as she saw the trolls being taught ballet. 'They need a lot of work.' She noted as she switched her look to the wall opposite of it. 'Walk in front of it three times, think what you need, and it'll appear.' After reminding herself what to do, she proceeded to do just that. 'A place for me to practice martial arts and sorcery.' She thought over and over in her mind.

A smile appeared on her face when a door appeared on the wall. Her hand reached for the doorknob, and she gave a turn that opened it. What her eyes caught sight on when she entered the new room made them sparkle in glee. 'It's fantastic! This castle really is something.'

The room had the look of an outside training ground. It was a large clearing with short and soft grass, small koi pond near the edge of the clearing with several trees, small poles jutting up from the ground at various heights, training dummies of various materials, and the room almost seemed to extend upwards for about a mile or so before hitting a ceiling enchanted to look like the current outside conditions.

Taking her shoes, robe, and socks off, the now barefooted cat girl walked across the soft grass and deposited the items onto a lone stump. Reaching into her hidden weapons subspace pocket, Ranma pulled out a white gi. As much as she hated the Hogwarts uniform she was wearing, she didn't want to damage the thing

Taking her place in the clearing, the blue/red eyed 11-year-old proceeded to do a few stretches to get the kinks out of her joints. Two days with no training made her feel like she was slacking off. She could have attempted to do this on the school grounds, but that would attract too much unneeded attention and questions. As she winded up her warm ups, her mind figured that the proper way to do this would to use the ability she learned from Ryoko a few years ago.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx **_(Three years ago)_**

"Ok shrimp, I think it is time I teach you a masu ability you SHOULD have learned by now." Ryoko stated as she floated around with her arms behind her head. The cyan haired ex-space pirate loved beating… err… teaching the young redhead how to properly use her masu abilities. The girl may be able to do some of the masu abilities, but it would take a few years of training for her to be truly effective with them.

"What would that be, ugly?" The eight-year-old redhead asked as she watched the woman float. She was able to use a few different abilities already, but they were kind of sucky. She preferred her Mouko Takasbisha to the masu energy blast, because the energy blast seemed to just fizzle out a bit a few feet after leaving her hand. The energy sword wasn't that effective, and seemed more like a quick beat stick. Finally, the force field fizzled out after a few minutes, and couldn't take much pressure. She was told that these abilities would grow with her as she aged. Masu energy wasn't like her ki and magic that could be increased with regular training, but more like her body that needs to develop.

"The Doppelganger, pipsqueak."

"That's… making a double, isn't it?" Ranma asked in sudden interest. She's seen the older woman do it on countless times. Mostly to cause mischief, as well as try to get at the cat girl. She never knew that she would also be able to do that ability.

Ryoko raised into a sitting position. "You got it. Creating a doppelganger is like just splitting your very self. You think about splitting and it'll happen. Your power will be divided with each other 'you' created. If you have two doppelgangers, then you and the double will have half power each."

Nodding enthusiastically, the cat girl concentrated. A few seconds later, a double was splitting from her, but wasn't able to and rubber banded back into her. Ranma was then knocked onto her feet.

"This is going to take a while." Ryoko said to herself as she watched the eight-year-old trying to create a doppelganger.

It took about a day for her to create a separate double, but it got easier from there.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx **_(End flashback)_**

After examining her clone, Ranma smiled and gave a thumb up. She couldn't keep it up for too long, maybe about an hour or so. Meaning that the first hour would be a little bit of sparring before spending some more time just training. Her clone also gave her a smile as the two stared each other down. It took several seconds before they both leapt at each other.

Fighting yourself would be one of the most difficult things you could do. You both know your own abilities, limits, and inner thoughts, and can counteract with nary a thought. One-upping that kind of opponent takes great thought and thinking outside of one would normally do.

Catching a punch from her doppelganger, Ranma thought about taunting her opponent, but she knew it wouldn't work. Why would you react to one of your own insults? She then sent a kick towards her clone… who managed to dodge out of the way and send her own kick. Ranma managed to dodge said kick just in time before a vertical kick from her managed to nick the clone on the chin. Before Ranma could recover, her foot was grabbed by her clone, and she was sent flying across the ground.

"That was really sloppy Ranma." Her double said with arms crossed. A frown appeared on redhead-one's face as redhead-two held out an open palm and began to gather orange-ish energy. "Fireball" stated redhead-two as the ball of fire flew towards the downed redhead-one.

Casting her own to cancel out the ball of fire, the real Ranma appeared in her copy's face. "Not as sloppy as this." Her fist was sent into the doppelganger's stomach, sending the double onto her back a few feet away. The fun was only just beginning.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was long after the sparring match and regular training that Ranma became aware of the world around her again. After changing her clothes and exiting the room, the redhead noticed that it was already time for dinner. Moving as fast as she could, she became discouraged to not that she actually **_MISSED_** it as students started walking out of the Great Hall.

"Nooooo…." She said softly to herself as her eyes started to shine with tears. Her stomach began lurching in hunger as she watched the students leave. 'Where the hell were you when I was busy training?' The redhead thought angrily to her stomach as she walked off. 'Well, I can always visit the kitchens later tonight when everyone is asleep or something.' Now all she had to do was get to detention before she was late for that as well.

Ranma made her way slowly down the dungeon steps until she came to the Potions classroom door. Raising a fist, she gave a small knock to the heavy wood. "Enter" a voice said on the other side. Obeying the command, the redhead opened the door and trudged into the lair of a person who she hated. "There you are Miss Malfoy. I was wondering where you were at when you weren't anywhere to be seen at dinner." The voice was low and held a bit of contempt.

"I was busy training." The redhead supplied, a feeling of displeasure welling up in her.

"Training? In what and where?"

"As for training, go ask Dumbledore. He knows what I train in, and as for where… That's none of your business." Her vision was suddenly filled by the view of a glaring teacher.

"You are going to learn how to respect me, girl." Snape said in a voice that anyone would find difficult to argue against. "You do not realize just what kind of trouble this attitude of yours is leading you to. It would not be well to cross me, because I know ways that could make you miserable." He received a small fiery look.

"Better people than you have tried **_Professor_**. You are **_FAR _**from the top 10 list of things I know **_NOT_** to cross." The glare against her intensified, and the greasy haired wizard held up a small vial.

"Do you know what this is Miss Malfoy?"

"How should I know?" What, is this guy going to try and actually torture her? Well if he thought he could, he'd be very wrong.

"It's cobra venom. Do you know how painful this poison is? I could just slip it into your food and…" His mental victim held out a hand for him to stop.

"Please… you ever heard of a woman named Akane Tendo? Her cooking could make cobra venom seem like bliss." She grew a little contemplative, "Although, she's gotten a lot better these days." Waving the thought off, her eyes turned towards Snape in a glare that would have cowered a dragon. "Are you, a teacher, actually **_THREATENING_** a student… a child with the promise of terrible pain?" Her small hand grabbed a hold of the pale teacher. "That type of method may work on the fearful children here, but it won't on me." Her eyes flashed crimson for a second before reverting back to normal. Releasing the professor, she stepped back and sighed at her temper.

"You… have quite the temper Miss Malfoy." Snape said regaining his composure. He was slightly unsettled by the girl in front of him, but he couldn't show it. "Your detention begins now. You are to organize the bottles and vials to their rightful place. I will be watching to make sure you do it right."

Ranma took a look at the table of what she needed to organize. She then looked back at the cold eyed professor. "You set those out yourself so I'd have to, didn't you?"

"Whatever do you mean?" The man in front of her asked in false confusion.

"Let's just get this over with." The redhead grumbled as she began organizing.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

An hour later, Ranma was finished with organizing the various potions and other such crap Snape had her do. As she was leaving, he had the nerve to tell her 'For a Malfoy, you smell like a horse'. She only managed a glare and indignant 'hey' before the door was closed on her.

"Smell like a horse… the nerve of the bastard. Well it makes sense. I haven't had a bath in two days, and I was training earlier. He didn't have to say it like that though." She was so engrossed in her grumbling that she almost missed she was coming up onto the wall leading to the Slytherin House. "Red Giblets"

Walking through the passage, her eyes caught sight of an older Slytherin girl. "Excuse me." Ranma began, "Where's the bathing area at?"

"It's down the girl's dorm stairs. The final door you come to at the bottom of the steps." As Ranma started that way, the girl called out. "You need it too."

"Yeah, yeah" The redhead grumbled as she headed down the stairs and came a cross the door to the bath. When she opened the door, her eyes widened. "Wow…" was her only response as she looked at the sight before her.

The bathing area had a built in tub that was about a little over half the size of an Olympic sized swimming pool. The floor, walls, and pillars were made of soft and smooth green stone. The faucets the water came out of were on the side of the bath, shaped like silver coiled snakes about ready to lunge. The walls were decorated with silhouettes of snakes, and towels, washrags, and other bathing supplies were stacked neatly on a table near the wall.

"I actually thought the baths wouldn't be so… beautiful." Ranma said wide-eyed as she took her clothes off and grabbed some bathing supplies.

"Yes, it is quite bright on the eyes, isn't it?" A familiar voice that caused the redhead to freeze said from behind. Slowly turning her head, her eyes caught sight of a person she thought she'd never lay her eyes on again, standing by the wall. "Miss me, _Lina_?" Xellos asked with a smile.

"YOU!" Ranma shouted as she pointed at the vile Mazouku, and something in her brain clicked. She remembered that she was currently unclothed, and that the idiot was standing over by the wall watching her. "You damn pedophile!" The redhead screamed as she grabbed a towel and covered herself.

"That was rather mean of you _Lina_. I'm hurt that you would say such a thioOF!" The trickster priest didn't get to finish because of the fist that was lodged in his stomach. His vision was filled with the cold eyes of a certain redhead. "Was that really necessary?"

"What the hell are you doing here? Watching young girls bathe?"

"That is a secreaRGH!" His fingers were being bent at an odd angle by the cat girl. "Alright, I just wanted to check up on how you were doing. That's all… it's that honest."

"While I'm taking a bath?!"

"Well I suppose that was a bit misjudged on my part, although it is fun to make girls scream in terror." A chuckle escaped his lips. "Making you angry is a treat too, and if I see you in your birthday suit, then it's no big deal to me." He placed a finger on Ranma's nose. "Besides, you don't really have anything. HA HA!" The young girl was suddenly wondering if attempting to drown the Mazouku would be an option. "Oh come on Ranma. I'm not **_THAT _**much of the evil bastard you think I am. If I was, do you think I really would have wanted to train you all those years ago? I could have also not said anything while you bathed. Now THAT would have been sick and wrong." He watched as the girl studied him intently for a long moment before responding.

"Yes"

"I guess that makes sense." Xellos commented with a sweat drop. "I honestly came to see how your training was going. I watched you training in…"

"So you were **_SPYING_** on me in the Come and Go Room as well? You really are sick and depraved. How the hell can you do this stuff without me sensing you?" Xellos put a gloved finger to her lip to silence her.

"That's quite easy Ranma." He watched as the child waited for an answer. "It's… A secret, Hahaha" His form vanished from the sight of the young redhead who fumed a little before calming down.

"You knew some crazy people in your life Lina. I hope nobody else from your time pays me a visit." Ranma mumbled as she dropped the towel and lowered into the water. A sigh escaped her as she submerged herself in the warm water. "This is kind of nice." She said to herself as she soaked. Her ears straightened at the sound of a door opening. Looking behind her, she saw several Slytherin girls of different years enter. 'Eep' she thought as she sunk a little in the water until just her nose and up were visible.

"It's the Cat Girl of Slytherin." One of the girls, a girl with long blue hair, stated as she kneeled down on the water's edge and looked down at Ranma. "What's wrong, is the little kitten nervous to be around others bathing?" Everyone gave a laugh at the nervous twitching of her ears. The blue haired girl sunk into the water next to the redhead. "That's so cute, a little flesh causes you discomfort, Haha.."

'Well… I'm not TOO bothered by this whole scene anymore.' She thought to herself. 'How could you when living with Ryoko and all?' Ranma remembered nine years ago when she took her first bath at the Masaki shrine in that floating… bath house thingie. Ryoko and the others came in, and once the damn space pirate found out about Ranma's nervousness, she decided to _correct_ it in her own way. Namely pull the youth close and bathe with her. Shaking out of the thoughts, she looked at the girl sitting next to her. "Not at all. I'm just… nervous about being around people is all." She lied, hoping the girl would buy it.

"I can understand that." The blue haired girl said. "Being a first year, far from home, so many strangers, and a castle that seems to have a mind of its own. I was nearly a wreck six years ago." The girl said with a laugh. "My name's Jesera, and I already know who you are." Jesera said offering her hand. Ranma nodded it and shook it.

'I still think people are exaggerating when they say Slytherin is bad. Maybe I'm just blind, or maybe they're delusional.' The redhead thought as she soaked in the water, her nose barely above the water, and her eyes closed.

"OOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOOOO!!!" The ear piercing screech of a laugh was reason for Ranma to bolt to her feet, her hair and furred ears/tail standing on end. Looking behind her, her eyes caught sight of a girl of about 13. She was a little taller than herself, with black hair and blue eyes. What disturbed the redhead the most was the unnatural size of the bust for a 13-year-old.

"Wha… huh…. Zuh?" Was all Ranma could say as she looked upon the maniac. Said maniac looked at her and pointed.

"Oohohohohohohohooo! I see the cat girl is intimidated by my presence. But of course she is. Who wouldn't be? For I am Nashigi Seisa, OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOOOO!!!" A twitch appeared in Ranma's eye at the laugh, and built until she couldn't stand it anymore.

"WILL YOU SHUT UP YOU BANSHEE?! FIREBALL!!" The new girl was suddenly engulfed in a large sphere of fire. Once it died down, the girl fell to the ground charred. Other girls in the bath could only stare at what happened. The small girl created a ball of fire without a wand and fried Nashigi. What would happen next, they wouldn't know.

Nashigi began to twitch. "Th… that attack…" She managed to stutter out.

"What of it?" Ranma asked. On the inside, her mind was screaming. 'Oh crap… damn you Lina's temper. Damn you to hell! Now I probably have ANOTHER psycho with a laugh who'll be out for me. That laugh sounded familiar too… Please don't start coming for my blood. I don't need someone with a laugh worse than Kodachi's coming after me.' Her eyes watched as the girl got into a sitting position.

"That was…" Ranma hung onto every word. "…fantastic!!!" Several face faults were heard. When the redhead recovered, her eyes looked wide eyed at the psycho.

"Wh… what?"

"You heard me girl." Nashigi stated as she stood up. "I'm saying that you…" Her arm was stretched out, pointing at the 11-year-old. "Are worthy enough to be my rival."

"…" It was all Ranma could think at the moment. What the hell just happened?

"I can't really use wandless magic right now, but I will learn because of you. I will not allow my rival to surpass me, Nashigi Seisa, the White Serpent of Hogwarts! You're a wee bit short for an 11-year-old, and your bust is smaller than that of one as well, but you are powerful! OOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOOOO!!!" The girl was suddenly hit by a barrage of fireballs from an angry cat girl with pure crimson eyes.

"Remind me to not piss off the cat girl." One of the Slytherin girls said as she cowered behind the other girls.

"That would be the best advice anyone could have."

"Should we tell the boys this also? I overheard a few of them were planning to pull Lina's tail." They all looked at each other for a second before coming to the unanimous conclusion.

"Nah"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Much to Ranma's dismay, she found out that Nashigi was completely fine the next morning. That was evident by the laugh and declaration of rival-hood. What surprised the redhead the most was that Nashigi seemed fully competent. It was just that she was prone to that disturbing laugh, and slight periods of a superiority complex. Other than that, she was a nice girl.

"Your new friend's laugh is scary." Gosaria whispered with a shiver as she walked with her friend towards the Great Hall. On the other side of the redhead was Nashigi. Ranma sent a small glare her way before speaking.

"She's not my friend. She's some crazy girl who decided to make me her rival. Did I do something to some deity that warrants my life to be like this? I swear, the next thing that bothers me is going to get fried." With the arrival of Nashigi, it seemed to get harder to control the small urges to blow something up in anger. Her code as a martial artist was strong enough to keep her from doing just that to innocent people who couldn't take the punishment.

It was on that lovely and beautiful Saturday morning that Ranma had her first official run-in with the enjoyable Peeves. Said poltergeist was particularly enthusiastic about causing a bit of trouble to the girl with cat ears. Swooping down, the tricky apparition lifted the redhead's robe and gave a nice tug on the furry scarlet tail.

"Wha?!" Ranma announced before she was suddenly on her but and massaging her sore tail. Her eyes caught sight of the little odd man that she briefly caught sight of yesterday morning. "Who the hell are you?" The disturbing cackle from the thing caused her ears to twitch.

"I'm Peeves the Poltergeist, resident trouble maker of this fine school." With that said, the apparition charged for the downed redhead. He gave a little tug on her ears and a lick on the cheek before pulling out a water balloon from his colorful hat and tossing it at the girl... who was then covered by black ink. With a joyous laugh, the poltergeist flew in circles around the sitting inked girl. "The widdle cat girl is now a widdle bwack cat! Stay back or she'll give you bad luck, Heeheeheehee!!" Crimson eyes and fiery aura suddenly met his black and beady ghostly ones.

"You are going to pay for that…"

"Oh, what's the widdle bwack cat gonna do about it?" A blackened hand grabbed a hold of his clothes. "You really think you can physically harm me kitty cat?" He was slightly nervous about the aura around the girl.

"Physically… no, but I'd like to introduce you to something else." Growled out the redhead, "Mono volt"

Peeve's ghostly body was suddenly filled with pain that he never felt before. "GAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!" That minute almost seemed like an eternity to the floating apparition until it stopped, and he succumbed to unconsciousness. Ranma then proceeded to chuck him down the stairs, watching as he bounced as he went.

Eyes turning back to their original color, the redhead looked upon the faces of the gathered students who stared at her with eyes wide in fear. "Um… hi?"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Great, now practically everyone in this damn place is afraid of me." Ranma grumbled to herself as she sat by a tree. After the little show she put on with that Peeves character, nobody except for Nashigi and Gosaria would even look her in the eye. Hermione said she wasn't scared or anything, but the redhead could sense that the bushy haired girl feared her. Draco didn't have a problem, mostly because he was aware of many of his sister's oddities. Although he seemed to ignore her once all his 'friends' started to.

All during breakfast, she would near whispers about her. 'The crimson eyed devil girl enshrouded in flames' was just one of them. "You'd think they'd all be used to weird stuff… idiots." The cat girl said as she leaned back on the tree. "I wonder if anyone else has this problem."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Somewhere in Japan, a small five-year-old with black hair and vivid purple eyes was crying. The other children at her kindergarten were afraid of her. All because she helped someone who hurt their self. They now called her 'weirdo' behind her back. "Are you ok my little firefly?" The girl's eyes looked up to see the warming eyes of a woman.

"MAMA! I don't like this place. All the kids are meanies." The little girl cried as she latched onto her mother.

"It's alright my little firefly. Mama's here for you." Keiko said as she picked her daughter up on walked off.

Snuggling into her mom's embrace, the little girl felt that as long as her mom was around, she was safe and happy.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

'Don't worry about them momma.' Laira announced as she jumped into Ranma's thoughts through their connection. 'People like that shouldn't be bothered with.' Giving an un-seeable look to the tiny cabbit, the redhead was about to say something when she was interrupted.

"This whole turn of events is so sweet." Ranma snapped her head up to see Quintinsy standing a few feet away with a smug look on his face. "I had planned to be the one to make you miserable, but you doing it yourself saved the effort. So, how does it feel… cat eared bitch?" He received a small shrug.

"I'd rather be feared than be hated as a pompous bastard who's full of himself." She watched as the dark blonde boy started to simmer. "Oh I'm sorry, did I strike a nerve?" Her eyes crossed to see the end of a wand just on the bridge of her nose. "You're a little gung-ho too I see. I seem to have that effect on people." The tip of the wand was pressed between her eyes.

"I made sure to see if anybody was around. There's nobody to stop me from putting a curse on you. I could hit you before you even scream." The voice was low and devoid of emotion. "I will, however, not curse you if you decide to become my personal servant. I heard from a source that you can communicate with cats. Since there are so many cats that prowl the school, some of which are from other houses, you could gather information for me from the little hairballs. It would all be… quite helpful."

"So you're into blackmail and all that crap?" Ranma asked with bored eyes. The guy in front of her reminded her of both Kuno and Nabiki; easy to make enemies with and held a grudge, but intelligent and manipulative.

"Blackmail is such a… strong word. I prefer the term 'information gathering'." Qintinsy commented as he examined his fingernails. "So, do we have a deal… cat bitch?" He watched as the girl in front of him gave a large yawn, showing off a pair of sharp feline teeth on each side of her mouth.

"So… what if I say no?"

"You'll be the first to test out the new spell I created. It's not a very… pleasing spell. You'll be begging me to stop it." There was an almost manic look in those cold eyes as he said it.

"You know… I think you just might be clinically insane."

"Sometimes I think I might be as well, but it doesn't impede me in any way I can see. No matter what the voices say." He blinked for a second before shaking his head. "Now wait just a minute!" The smirk on the redhead's face caused him to go pink. "Ok you asked for it. ZutoOPH!!" Quintinsy shouted as a bunch of… something collided into him and knocked him to the side. When Ranma saw what it was, her eye started twitching.

"Panties?" Indeed they were. There lying on the ground was Quintinsy, knocked out cold because of a rock, entangled with a bunch of panties.

"Quite right you are… girl!" A joyous and old voice shouted. Slowly turning her head, the cat girl saw the diminutive form of the grand master of Anything Goes. "Ah, I see you remember me." He stated as he saw the shocked look on the girl's face.

"Happosai!?" Ranma shouted as she shot to her feet. What was the damn pervert doing here, and how did he know about her?

"Well who else would I be, girl?" The aged pervert asked with his arms crossed. "I'm here to see if you've been slacking off with your training or not."

"I don't need your help you damn pervert." The 11-year-old snarled. The guy would probably try and get her to steal underwear or something. There was no way she was going to do that. "I'm doing find without your help." Her vision was filled with stars after she was hit by the old man's pipe.

"Rebirth has made you soft _girl._" The old master taunted as he leapt from the child. He'd be damned if he was going to let the greatest thing to ever grace the Anything Goes become less than the best she could be. He dodged to the left of a kick and ducked a punch aimed for his head. "Hmm… it **_HAS_** made you soft. You should have had a little bit more power and speed behind those. I guess you had to retrain your whole body. It's a shame, all that talent you had wasted."

"Shut up!" She sent a low kick towards the aged pervert. Once he jumped over it, the cat eared girl sent a punch… which was dodged by a handstand from the small man as he somersaulted over her head. Her tail then whipped out and grabbed him by the leg. Giving a small toss, the pervert was sent towards the tree. Recovering from the throw, Happosai bounced off the tree and back in front of the former boy.

"Yes I see. You seem to only be at 65 of what you were in your physical abilities. Rebirth really DOES affect one terribly." He blocked a barrage of punches. "The rate you're going, it would probably be a few more years before you would be at 100 of what you were before." He grabbed hold of the fist and gave the girl a flip. "Your magic and ki feel quite strong though. You don't need much training in that it seems." A pressure point paralyzed the youth on the spot. "You seem to have a temper I don't remember though. That'll get you into some trouble."

"Are ya done examining me like a piece of meat!?" Ranma shouted as her eyes turned crimson. Happosai jumped and perched on her head with a stern expression.

"Yes… very short temper. Those eyes also show it as well. Maybe that's the reason everyone's afraid of you." He gave a small shrug. "Oh well. Fear is a powerful thing, and it's more fun than hate. You might not have to worry with most trying to tear your head off, just as long as you don't lose it and try to harm innocents, girl."

"You know I wouldn't harm any innocent people, pervert." The redhead growled out to the perched old man. "I still have my code to live by."

"Yes, yes. I've very well aware of that Ranma." The pervert commented as he hopped down and un-paralyzed the cat eared girl. "You know Ranma." The diminutive old man started. "You might become quite the attractive cat girl… if you get past this abnormal shortness and all you seem to have in this form." He was too slow to dodge the cat tail as it snaked around him, and the cry of 'mono volt' gave him a nice shock. "Ooh… pretty ladies." The dazed pervert said.

"Yeah, just go jump off a cliff or something." Ranma snarled as she dropped him.

Coughing a bunch of smoke out of his mouth, Happosai looked back at her. "It's decided, I'll be training you weekly from now on."

"When the hell was this decided you creep?"

"I'm not going to allow the best student in the history of the Anything Goes to stay weak and drag the school into the mud." He waved his hand at the look he was receiving. "Ok, further than it already is. You sure won't be able to become a worthy heir by just training by yourself against nothing else. Starting next weekend, I'll be training you every Saturday and Sunday night. Meet me by the lake, and we'll talk more about it." With that, the aged pervert took off. Where he took off to, Ranma didn't know. He did oddly leave the panties that were covering Quintinsy though.

"Kaaa…. What else have I gotten into?"

"Oohohohohohohohooo!!" The shiver ran up Ranma's spine as she turned around to see Nashigi and Gosaria; the latter being uncomfortable with the laugh as well. The older girl walked up to the redhead. "I told you she wouldn't be wallowing in depression, Gosaria. If she fell to that easily, then she wouldn't be my rival." She draped an arm around the redhead.

"I guess you're right Nashigi." The blonde said as she began walking up to her friend. "You are ok, aren't you Lina?" She received a hand wave.

"Of course I am. It just pissed me off that they would all allow fear to rule their heads. What really gets me is how Hermione seemed to be all scared of me." She shrugged the thought off. "I was hoping to go a few weeks before people see some of the weirder things about me, but it's too late now." She commented bitterly. Nashigi then pointed something out.

"Hey, what's with the Ravenclaw guy unconscious under a bunch of panties?"

"Huh?" Ranma asked as she saw what the black haired girl meant. She almost forgot about him. "I don't know. He was like that when I got here." She lied as a smile suddenly found its way on her features. 'Laira, have a couple teachers come here. They should see something interesting.'

'Ok momma'

"Wait till the teachers get a load of this."

xxxA.N.xxx

Another chapter, another time that I thought up more than I originally thought as I was doing it. As stated, thanks to the reviewers, and a few fun ideas that people had that were a joy to think about.

The next chapter **_SHOULD_** include the flying lessons and a few other things, but I'm not making any promises on that.

Next chapter might be a little while, since I think I might work on a little bit of 'The Ectoplasmic Arts'


	9. Of Names, Flying, and Devil Dogs

Wild Magic

Ranma 1/2, Slayers, and any other series used in this fanfic are owned by their respective creators/publishers/whatever

Thanks to CyberSkaarj for pre-reading.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Chapter 9

It was early morning on that Sunday, and Ranma was sitting comfortably on the branch of a tree. Her tail was hanging loosely off the branch as she finished eating the large apple she had. It was a lightly gray and cloudy day, but beautiful none-the-less. The wind blew the leaves around on the ground, sometimes twirling them in mini tornadoes.

With just the core of the apple left, the cat eared girl gave it a small toss followed by a small blast of ki that destroyed the core. She let a yawn escape her as she stretched. She had ended up waking a couple hours earlier, and then decided to get a little bit of training in. As she had started down the stairs after training, she had suddenly felt the urge to use the restroom, and the only bathroom she was aware of at the moment outside of the houses was the second floor one she had caught sight of earlier. It was at that moment that she had a run-in with her third ghost of Hogwarts.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx _**(Flashback: A little while ago)**_

As the redheaded martial artist/sorceress entered the second floor restroom, her ears picked up the slight sound of sobbing coming from one of the stalls. Curious as to the sounds, she located the stall and gave a light knock on the door. She then proceeded to fall backwards on her butt when a ghostly head shot right out of the stall through the door and startled her.

"What do _**YOU**_ want?" The ghostly girl asked in a distressing tone. "Come to pick on me like all the other students at this dreadful school do every year? Oh, maybe you'd like to tease me about my crying. Oh yes, Dreadful _**MOANING**_ Myrtle."

Coming back from her shock, Ranma's blue/red eyes looked at the ghostly girl with big glasses and lanky black hair. "Jeez, what the hell kind of problem do you have on your shoulder?" She asked as she got to her feet and dusted her bottom off. She saw the girl, Myrtle she had said her name was, scrunch her nose up.

"My problem you ask? My problem is the whole student body in this stupid school picking on me me; insulting me behind my back. 'Oh, there's the waterlogged ghost who lives in the toilets. She's such a crybaby'."

"Why don't you leave this school then?" It was simple as that.

"The Ministry of Magic forced me back here. I started haunting the girl who was inadvertently responsible for my death 50 years ago. I remember her brother's wedding… it was beautiful. Then she got fed up and told the Ministry."

"That sucks." Ranma said casually, "Although I CAN relate in a way." She received a curious side stare.

"How's that?"

"Everyone here except for a few people, one of which is ignoring me because he wants to be 'cool' with his friends, fears me; just because I lost my temper with that Peeves guy. They're all calling me the 'Crimson Eyed Devil Girl Enshrouded in Flames' and other smaller things." She saw the recollection in the eyes of Myrtle.

"So you're the 'devil girl' I overheard people whispering about, and the one who Peeves was going on about."

"Ah, so the bastard is alright. I thought he might have been a little delirious after being electrocuted." The 11-year-old said with a yawn. She then noticed the odd look on the ghost's face. "What?"

"Well… apparently Peeves _**LIKED **_the sensation, and figures tormenting you, along with the other kids as usual, would provide the most fun he's had in ages. Maybe it was my imagination, but I think I saw hearts in his eyes as well." Myrtle winced at the face fault the girl in front of her made.

"Well crap." Ranma simply stated

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx _**(End Flashback)**_

'At least I managed to cheer her up a little. She needed at least _**ONE**_ friend who slightly understood her. Now I just need to worry about that Peeves guy.' The sound of footsteps on grass broke her thoughts. Glancing down, her eyes spotted Potter and Weasley making their way to her tree and sitting down. Curiosity getting the better of her, Ranma tuned her ears onto their conversation

"I can't believe we'll be having flying lessons on Thursday with the Slytherins." Harry said with a frown. "Having Potions with Malfoy is all I can stand. Now I'm going to have to make a fool of myself on a broom in front of him." Ron gave him a pat on the back.

"You don't know that Harry. I know Malfoy is always going on about how he's an expert at flying, but maybe the stories are all talk." Ranma had to stifle a laugh. Sure, her brother HAD gotten onto brooms before, but he always chickened out if he got too high and cried to get down. He could fly around well… if he was low to the ground.

She decided to make her presence known to the two boys. "A bunch of hot air, that's what it is." A laugh escaped her as the two boys yelped and jumped nearly several feet in the air before turning around and looking up at her. The one to speak was Ron, who was slightly pink from embarrassment.

"You have the nerve to spy on other people's conversations." Ranma stopped laughing and glanced at the redheaded boy.

"Excuse me, but I believe I was here first; sitting in the tree while you two plopped down and started talking." Jumping off the branch, the redhead landed on the grass. "A person should be aware of their surroundings if they don't really want anyone to hear them talk."

The Weasley boy scratched the back of his head. "Sorry for the accusation then." He wasn't sure if he should be nervous or not about the girl in front of him. The stories going around about her weren't good at all. In the limited amount of times he met her though, she hadn't seemed all that bad.

Ranma turned her attention to the other boy. She knew who the kid was. He was the one who was supposed to be the main factor against that Voldemort guy, but she didn't know what was so special about him that made it so. Sure she was supposed to help in some way, but defeating the bastard was the boy's destiny or some such crap. If that was the case, then she either had her own, or this was all just some cruel joke being played on her by the gods.

"We've met a few times before, but never fully introduced ourselves. The name's Lina Malfoy." The blue/red eyed girl extended her arm to shake the bespectacled boy's hand. Said boy reached out and shook the hand in return.

"Harry Potter" he said in return. It was odd how the Malfoy girl seemed to be the exact opposite of her brother. He figured that she would act in similar fashion. "Thanks for helping me out a little with Snape. I don't think I would've been able to take anymore of that."

The martial artist/sorceress waved her hand. "It was no big deal. I just can't stand it when someone is trying to make another's life hell."

"I'm used to it actually. I had 10 years of things like that." Harry said with a small shrug. One more person trying to do that wouldn't make a difference. He suddenly remembered what the girl said when she was in the tree. "What did you mean by a bunch of hot air?"

Ranma gave a smirk. Maybe it was time to take Draco down a peg or two for his attitude as of late. "Oh that's easy. Draco can fly, but he never went more than a few feet from the ground. Whenever he got too high, he would cry about it. That was a couple of years ago though, and I haven't caught him trying to fly since." The dual eye colored girl pointed a finger to the boy with the scar. "I doubt you'll end up making a fool of yourself."

"How do you know that?"

"Call it a feeling." The redheaded girl said with a slight shrug. The boy seemed to give off a strong bit of magic energy. The way she thought about it, a broom would react best to the amount of energy one gives off. That would mean the boy _**SHOULD**_ be able to do well.

Ron studied the girl for a few seconds. "You don't seem like the scary monster that people are labeling you as." She didn't seem like a crazy person, and the Weasley boy had no clue as to why people were so scared of her.

Ranma raised an eyebrow. "Oh, now I'm being called a monster as well as being avoided?" She proceeded to shake her head at that fact. "Ah well, it's not skin off my nose at how they think about me." She couldn't really care less about what a bunch of idiots thought about her. Besides, she already had a couple people she could call friends… if you could count Nashigi as a friend. That girl still sent shivers up Ranma's spine with her laugh.

"You mean it doesn't bother you?" Harry asked with a blink. The Dursleys treated him like a bomb that was ready to blow at any moment, and he found himself many times wishing he was somewhere else.

The martial artist/sorceress shrugged her shoulders. "Don't get me wrong" she began. "It gets on my nerves an all, but why would I allow a bunch of idiots to get to me?" It was at that moment when a couple of boys walked up to the trio.

"We've been looking for you, Red Cat." The girl blinked before turned around to see Fred and George, both of with having a couple of amused smiles. Before the 11-year-old could act, Fred pulled her close to them and draped an arm over her shoulder. "It's amazing how you managed to make a name for yourself within less than five days."

"It took us about half a year." His brother said with a slight look of nostalgia in his eyes at the thought of it all.

"The Crimson Eyed Devil Girl Enshrouded in Flames is not a name that one can be proud of." Ranma said with a frown. 'Are these guys ever serious, or do they have a permanent sense of humor?' the redheaded girl thought to herself as the two lead her away from Harry and Ron.

"Ah come on, Red Cat." George said with a slight pout as they walked. "You could possibly go down in Hogwarts history as the greatest talked about person ever."

"That is, of course, next to the Weasley Twins." Fred added as he scratched the bottom of his chin. "Our pranks and trouble making ways have their own folder that's nearly busting out of Filch's cabinet, and we plan to make it bust wide open."

"Our dream is also to go on and create a line of joke items and our own business. For our joke items to be used by the vast number of students of Hogwarts would be an honor in itself." The other stocky brother said with his arms crossed.

"So… is there any real reason you decided to kidnap me from a conversation I was having?" Had the reason been to just blabber on about their accomplishments and dreams? If she wanted to listen to that, she'd pay a visit to Kuno.

"Actually, Red Cat" there was that dang nickname again. "We just wanted to talk to you about secret passages and all that good stuff."

"Such as if you ever find anymore, could you let us know? That would possibly be the greatest thing ever." Fred leaned in closely "We may even let you in on some of our pranks if you help us with that. You might be a Slytherin, but you don't seem to be a snooty or boring git."

"Just a little on the weird side." Finished Fred

"Uh… thanks, I think." Ranma said with a few blinks. She didn't know whether to take it all as a compliment, or just a slight insult on the 'weird side' part. The reincarnated child decided to just shrug it off and go with it.

The twin to her left, George, leaned towards her ear. "We also doubt it was that snob from Ravenclaw who was stealing those girls' underwear. You probably had something to do with planting them on him, right?"

"The guy's embarrassed beyond all reason, and people are calling him a pervert left and right." Fred added after his brother. "However you did it was pure genius, and the Weasley Twins congratulate you on an excellent deed well done."

The cat-girl shook her head. "It wasn't me who did…"

"We know it had to be you, Red Cat. Those friends of yours, Nashigi and Gosaria, have said that they never saw anyone else in the area, and everyone knows that both you and the guy had a mutual dislike for each other." A devious smile appeared on the faces of the twins. "The best thing is, the teachers wouldn't be able to book you for anything unless you confessed to doing it. That Quintinsy guy is the one who's being taunted and teased for that little event."

"I'm telling you that I had nothing…"

"Hey, we can understand that you don't want to admit something like that. You want to keep your name clean so that you could do other things without suspicion." Both twins gave sage nods. "We're telling you, the name Lina the Red Cat could go down in Hogwarts history. Hell, it already is; just as a different name." The two boys started to walk away. "Keep up the good work, Lina."

As Ranma watched the two leave, she sighed and placed her arms behind her head. "How the hell do I always get myself into stuff like this?" She asked herself as she began to walk back towards Hogwarts.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma's eye began to twitch a little as she walked through the corridors and hallways of Hogwarts. 'Crimson Eyed Devil Girl' and other similar things she could shrug off, and it was somewhat understandable because of what happened with that Peeves guy. Anyone who saw the whole event would attest to the fact she did look like a devil girl.

No, the reason for the redheaded cat-girl's movement of the eye was not because of that. Apparently a lot more people than she thought was possible had somehow managed to stay awake and listen to Prof. Binns' lecture on Thursday. That in itself would necessarily be thought of as a good thing.

However, many people's minds started paying close attention to the whole 'Lina Inverse' part of the lecture. People apparently started to see some slight similarities in the Inverse woman and Hogwarts' current Lina. An image of the very late Lina Inverse was located within the book, and people noticed that both Inverse and Malfoy looked a lot alike. The ability to use magic effectively without a wand was noticed as well in the young Malfoy. There were also slight similarities in temper, shortness, and other features.

This info, of course, proceeded to run rampant around the school; spreading to almost every living individual. It all ended up leading to people actually reading the very chapter and seeing a few interesting aliases that the old Lina was called by.

"Bandit Killer" One girl whispered to another when they caught sight of the redheaded cat-girl. That name caused a slight twitch within the eye region that started a bit slowly.

"The Dragon Spooker" The twitch began to increase in intensity as Ranma's ears flattened on the top of her head.

"Pink sorceress… ha ha… how lame and stupid" The scarlet tail hidden beneath her robes began to move around wildly, her hands began to clench into fists, a vein appeared on her forehead, and the twitch was at an incredibly fast clip.

"A face that could even make a dragon sick" A small bit of unseen wind started to thrash about within the redhead's hand as her entire body began to fully tense up.

"Short and flatter than a board" That proved to be the final straw that broke the proverbial camel's back. With a loud cry, the martial artist/sorceress raised her arm in the air. A ball of compressed wind whipped around wildly and chaotically within the small hand. She then proceeded to slam the hand down onto the stone floor. What happened next was a powerful gust of wind that flew in all directions through the area; causing everyone who happened to be there to fly a few feet away and onto their butts. A suit of armor wasn't as lucky as it was sent flying into various pieces.

The entire area remained deathly calm; as if time had somehow stopped. Everyone stared with wide eyes at the currently kneeling redhead, hand flat against the ground, and eyes glowing red. After a few moments of silence, those red orbs that were Ranma's eyes returned to their normal blue/red mix. With a small blink, she stood back up straight and looked around at the completely shocked and startled faces. There was also the suit of armor trying to chase its head.

"What in the name of Merlin's Beard happened here?!" The redhead turned around to see Prof. McGonagall marching up towards her with a stern look in her old eyes. When the elderly witch got up to the girl, she stood with arms crossed. "Well, Miss Malfoy, what happened?"

Ranma looked around at the area again, and at all the shocked students still looking at her. Returning her gaze to the professor, the redhead calmly and innocently answered. "I had to pass a little wind is all." Complete and utter silence reined on a little while longer as McGonagall stared on at the cat-girl who had just said she had passed 'a little wind'. Did the professor _**REALLY**_ even want to try and debate this issue?

"Um…" The witch in green began as she tried to figure out what to say. "35 points from Slytherin for what you did."

"Gotcha, Professor"

"And Miss Malfoy"

"Yes?"

"Please use the restrooms next time." Ranma proceeded to blink at the comment as the older woman walked away shaking her head and complaining about 'troubling' students. Were they really on the same brainwave just a moment ago, or was the redhead missing something. What did the restroom have to do with anything? Ah well, at least she didn't get detention for this mess.

As she was walking away, one of the braver students, who happened to still be sitting on his butt, went on and whispered something else. "Enemy of all who live…" The boy was completely startled when the girl he was talking about appeared over his shoulder.

"Did you say something?"

"N… no I didn't." The boy said as he got to his feet and sped off. Ranma watched as all the other students in the area got up and quickly left as well; nobody meeting her eyes.

"This is getting ridiculous."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After that event, word got around about how dangerous it would be to say those very names whenever the redheaded cat-girl was around. To emphasize this, there was the suit of armor that still couldn't find its head; although Peeves might have had something to do with that. Beyond that point, it was decided that it would definitely not be a good idea to anger the Devil Girl.

Not everyone got word of that message though, or maybe a certain poltergeist just didn't give a damn. It all came down to a small routine between the paranormal being and the cat-girl. Peeves would appear and get on Ranma's bad side, and then Ranma, in turn, would either electrocute, blast, freeze, set ablaze, and any other number of spells that would knock the apparition out for a while.

By Wednesday afternoon, it got so ridiculous, that the blue/red eyed girl had taken to glancing in Lina Inverse's old spell listings in her diary to see if there was a spell that could possibly do anything to stop Peeves from annoying her once and for all. A smile appeared on her face as she found what she was looking for, and so she set off to look for the useless idiot.

The hard part was finding the blasted bastard. As usual, the person you are looking for is always hard to find, unless they are looking for you. She had luck, however, when she found the apparition floating in the air and playing around with the missing head of the suit of armor.

"Hello Peeves" Ranma said calmly as she walked up to the annoying little floating man. The thing in the colorful outfit turned and gave a mischievous little smile.

"Well if it isn't Lina the Dragon Spooker. Did you come to play with widdle old me?" He asked while trying to make his eyes look big and innocent. The poltergeist blinked when he saw the strange smirk that had appeared on the girl's face.

"I'm afraid not. I actually came here to inform you that I found a spell in the journal of an ancestor's of mine that could destroy you. It's a form of old magic, and you know how powerful old magic is. If you don't stop pestering me, I may be forced to use it."

"Oh little Lina, you are so funny."

"The spell could destroy you from the astral side, and that would mean a complete end for you." She saw the look in the chaotic thing's eyes. "What, you don't believe me? Fine, we'll just have to do it right now." Energy began to gather in her hands as she chanted softly.

Peeves was actually starting to feel a little nervous. "Now Lina… I'm sure we… um…" He didn't know what to say as the energy kept on growing. The mischievous being was starting to feel as if the girl was fully serious. "O… ok you win. I won't be bothering you!" Turning around, Peeves fled at a fast clip.

Ranma watched after him and gave off a small smile. 'Fooled the idiot into thinking a simple light spell would destroy him. I doubt he will stop annoying me forever, but at least it would be a while before he comes back at me.' She thought to herself as she started walking off.

'Even you can have well thought out tricks at times, mama.' Laira giggled back through their mind link.

'Ha-ha… you're a real riot.' The redhead sarcastically answered back as her eyes caught sight of someone she really didn't want to be around if she could help it. Walking down the hall was that Professor Quirrel guy. He still reeked of a terrible odor of garlic, or something similar.

"G… Good morning, Miss M… Malfoy." The nervous man stuttered out as he walked past. Ranma watched after him, and her senses were focused on the back of the turban the guy was wearing. There was something there that was bothering her greatly, and she didn't know why. Her eyes continued to watch after the retreating man until he left her sight.

'Maybe my senses are just being thrown for a loop because of this place. It seems everywhere I go they are being screamed at in some way.' The 11-year-old thought to herself as she walked on towards the Slytherin house. She figured that if there _**WAS**_ anything suspicious about that teacher, then somebody would have figured it out by now. If anything, shouldn't the old fart be able to notice anything that was amiss?

That is, unless the guy was well aware of the situation and was waiting to see if it would fully come out and hit the fan. Hopefully the guy was just ignorant of the situation, because who in the hell would allow something that could possibly be deadly to roam the halls of a school where innocents could be put in danger?

A half-lidded stare accompanied her as she suddenly remembered a small confrontation with Dumbledore that she had yesterday in the corridors. The guy merely greeted her and started talking about a certain kind of sweet. "Right… this is a guy with an obsession for Lemon Drops that we're talking about." The safety of the entire school was in the hands of a crackpot like him. The redhead really hoped it was all a front… she really did.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"You'll be having flying lessons later today." Nashigi said as Ranma, Gosaria, and she walked towards the Great Hall. A smile came to the raven-haired girl's face "I do wonder how well you will do on a broom."

"I'll probably do ok." The cat-girl said as she looked towards her self proclaimed rival. Ranma was incredibly glad that the busty girl didn't break out in her laugh yet. Apparently the fireball barrage against her was the 4,539th time that she had ever been magically attacked because of her laugh ever since she started doing it at the age of six. "How well do _**YOU**_ do when you fly?"

"Well… I've always been a little afraid to use a broom." Nashigi answered nervously as she twiddled her fingers. "It has to do with something along the lines of not wanting to fall and hurt myself. Blood freaks me out, and I'm not sure why." Her eyes glared at the blue/red eyed girl who began to laugh a bit. "Oh yeah, like you don't have anything that you're embarrassed to be afraid of."

"Nope, I'm not afraid of anything." Ranma supplied with a slight cocky smirk. That very smirk caused her 'rival' to swear to herself to find the very thing that would make the redhead scream like a baby. Everybody had some kind of thing they were afraid of, and those who completely denied it probably had an embarrassing fear.

The dark-haired girl thought about success at putting one over the redhead and laughed. "Ooohohohohohooo…" She was then promptly smacked upside the back of the head by her blonde and redhead companions.

'She's a freaking lost cause.' The cat-girl thought to herself as she watched Nashigi rub the back of her head.

"_Quidditch Through the Ages_ has loads of helpful information for learning to ride a broom." Ranma's eyes looked over to see Hermione reading through a book about broom riding to Neville, Ron, and Harry, and others at the Gryffindor table. From the look of how things were going, it seemed that only the nervous boy, Neville, was interested in the reading. The others looked bored out of their skulls and about ready to ask the girl to shut up.

She had no idea why, but the fact that the brown-haired girl was scared of her didn't sit well. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that the girl was the first _**normal**_ friend that she made in this life. By normal, she didn't mean any weird quirks, curses, an alien, incredibly short temper, had any hidden motives, tried to kill her, tried to marry her…

Tossing the thought out of her head, the reincarnated martial artist/sorceress walked up to the group at the table. "Yo, Hermione." A frown appeared when the bushy-haired looked at her with nervousness apparent on her face.

"Oh, hi Lina, how are you doing?" Hermione asked as she tried to hide her nervousness. She knew she was being rude and all, but it was hard after seeing the cat-girl do what she did to that Peeves thing. If the redhead would lose that temper with her…

"Damn it Hermione" Ranma began with a strong bit of annoyance. The whole thing felt familiar to when she first met Akane, and the girl offered to be friends. Then the secret that was hiding got out, and everything went to hell. Unlike that time, though, she got to know and make friends with Hermione. That aspect made the redhead feel worse. "Do you honestly think I'm a freaking monster?"

Several heads snapped to the conversation that was being played out at the Gryffindor table. All curious as to how the conversation would turn out. One of the teachers was about ready to get up and confront the situation, but Dumbledore stopped them. "Lina will not start a fight; there is no need to worry."

Hermione bit the bottom of her lip as she looked up at the redhead. "You got it all wrong, Lina. I don't think you're a monster. It's just that…"

"No, let me guess." Ranma interrupted with a raised hand. "It's because like all the other idiots in this school, you let the fear of something you don't understand blind you." The brown-haired girl was about to deny it when the redhead interrupted again. "Just spare me your excuses. I thought you were smart, Hermione. Would an intelligent person fear something blindly and distance themselves from someone they considered a friend? Think about it, and if that's the case, then you are no friend of mine; just a coward in 'friends' clothing. Good day to you, Miss Granger, and may you overcome this bout of blind stupidity."

Everyone watched the redhead walk towards the Slytherin table with an almost unnatural icy calm about her; leaving a girl with dark colored eyes to dwell on what was just said to her and wince at the intensity of it. She saw the looks she was getting from a few people at her table, as well as Gosaria and Nashigi, and found herself deep in thought about a problem that she never had before.

On the other side of the Great Hall, Ranma was trying to figure out just why in the hell it annoyed her so much. 'Why the hell should I even give a care about a thing like that?'

'It's because she was a friend who effectively betrayed you?' Laira asked back from the connection. The young cabbit was currently stalking the kitchen for more carrots to eat. The house elves, though, were happy to provide the young creature with all the carrots it wanted.

'Feh, like that's not familiar grounds with me.' The redhead figured that she'd just put it out of her mind, and if Hermione sincerely apologized, then ok. The blue/red eyed girl was brought out of her thoughts when Nashigi and Gosaria sat on either side of her.

"If you're not going to eat that pancake, then I will." The blonde said as she stole one of Ranma's pancakes that was on her plate, and the dark-haired girl did the same with the other.

"Hey, those were mine!" And so began another fight for food between the three Slytherins who had become known as the 'Bottomless Stomachs of Hogwarts'. Anybody close to the situation had to watch their own food like a hawk.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

At three-thirty in the afternoon, Ranma and Gosaria made their way out of the castle and towards the field that would be used for flying practice. The redhead had to slightly wonder if the breeze that was in the air would play any factor in how everything went. Her blue/red eyes caught sight of the thick and dark Forbidden Forest that they were told about on the first day of arrival.

"It doesn't look too dangerous." She said lamely.

Her blonde companion looked at her with a little worry in her eyes. "They say there are tons of monsters in that place. It's even rumored that werewolves are located somewhere within those woods."

"Makes you wonder why things like that would live so close to a school full of children." Add that to another thing about this school that made it seem like a place only a loon would think up. Her eyes blinked when she caught sight of an odd looking creature. "Do you see something over by the edge of the forest, Gosaria?"

The azure-eyed girl looked to where her friend was pointing, but she couldn't see a thing. "I'm sorry Lina, but I don't see anything." Maybe her friend was seeing something. The forest _**DID**_ look scary and intimidating after-all. "Maybe it's an illusion?"

"No… what I'm seeing is real." Ranma watched as the thing jumped into the air and nabbed a bird of some kind in its mouth. "It… looks like a pitch black horse with blank and glowing white eyes. It has a skeletal-like body, and I can actually see into its ribs, as well as see a pair of large leather-like wings." She continued to watch the thing eat the bird. "It apparently eats meat too, because it caught a bird, and is now crunching on it." It may have looked disturbing, but there was something about it that screamed out that it was an intelligent and formidable creature.

The redhead's arm was then being pulled by Gosaria. "Let's get out of here. I don't want to find out if something like that would attack us." The whole description of the creature freaked the blonde out, and she wondered why her friend was the only one who could see the thing.

They finally got to the field they would be having flying lessons at a few seconds before the Gryffindors arrived. Ranma watched as Hermione, a little subdued, walked up towards her and lowered her head a bit. "I'm sorry for acting like I did, Lina. What you said earlier today caused me to think. I have been acting stupid, and I feel ashamed for doing so out of the fact that I had so little knowledge. I would really like to be your friend again." Everything became silent as the conversation went on, and they all watched as a smile appeared on the redhead's face.

"You didn't have to get so long-winded with the apology. A simple 'I'm sorry' without any stuttering or nervousness would have been good." Ranma began to scratch her head. "I never thought it would be that simple and quick. I actually thought you would end up doing something along the lines of trying to plot some odd revenge for me doubting your character and all."

Everyone began to look at the redhead oddly. "What? I'm serious. I've been attacked by people who have held grudges over minor things, and even by someone with a bad sense of direction who blamed me for all the problems he had in his life."

Before anybody could even respond, the flying teacher made her appearance. "Ok, that's enough talking for now." Her hair was fully gray, and her eyes were yellow and hawk-like. "Well, what is everyone waiting for? Quickly, hurry up to your brooms." Her eyes watched as everyone made their way to a broom. Ranma noticed that the brooms looked a little worn and beat up. "Now, I want everyone to extend their hands and say 'up'."

Doing as the teacher told them, Ranma gave a command of 'up'. The beat-up broom charged into her hand a split second later with enough force to almost send her stumbling back. Her blue/red eyes scanned the other students to see how they were doing. Harry, Ron, Draco, and a few others had their brooms. Gosaria's was hovering between in the air as it attempted to get to the blonde's hand. Hermione's merely rolled on the ground, and Neville's, like a small few, did squat.

Madam Hooch had ordered them all to mount the brooms as she went down and inspected each one. When she got to Ranma, she gave a small frown. "You are doing it all wrong, Miss Malfoy. You are a little too far back, and that could cause you to fall if you were at the wrong angle." The yellow-eyed woman proceeded to help the girl with the sitting posture.

"I feel completely ridiculous." The redhead stated with a frown as she stood with a broom nestled between her legs. 'Maybe if I get through this, I won't have to put up with these stupid brooms ever again.' She listened to the gray-haired instructor droll on as she inspected everyone else. The woman then proceeded to tell everyone to begin when she gave the signal. The countdown began, but apparently Neville got a little nervous and started before the signal.

The cat-girl watched as the nervous boy rose higher and higher as he cried out in fear. Her eyes widened when the boy suddenly began to slip off the broom. His and gripped on as he fell, but a slight wince that appeared on his face caused him to let go and begin falling to the ground.

Acting quickly, Ranma shot forward and made a large leap. Neville landed in her arms as she used her feet to catch herself on the wall and bounce off; landing softly on her feet before setting the startled boy down on the ground. Her eyes saw the look on the boy's face as he held his wrist. "It looks like he hurt his wrist when he tried to hold on as he fell." She said calmly as Madam Hooch charged forward and picked the boy up to his feet.

"I'll take him to the infirmary. Everybody leave your brooms where they are, and anybody who disobeys this order will be out of Hogwarts faster than you could say Quidditch." The hawk-eyed teacher began to lead a whimpering boy away from the group. When she got out of sight, everyone started talking.

"Did you see what Lina just did?" One girl asked with wide eyes.

"Maybe she's not a monster after-all." Another student said.

"Forget that" Draco said as he started laughing. "Did you see how much a crybaby Longbottom was?" Ranma's eyes narrowed, and Gosaria looked with wide eyes, as the rest of the Slytherins began to laugh.

"Shut up, Malfoy." Parvati, from Gryffindor, shouted. After that quip, the entire field started turning into an argument between the Gryffindors and Slytherins. Ranma was about ready to try and defuse the situation when her brother announced something else. It was the Remembrall that Neville had dropped.

The focus then changed to Harry demanding that Draco give the thing to him. The blonde boy gave a nasty smile that sent a foreboding chill up the redhead's spin. "I think I'll leave it somewhere else for him to find… like up a tree."

"Draco!" Ranma managed out before the boy shot up into the air on the broom. "Well I'll be" The cat-girl began. "He _**CAN**_ make it into the air." In the corner of her blue/red eye, she saw Harry get an all too familiar look in his eye that she was well aware of.

"No Harry!" Hermione shouted at the bespectacled boy. "If you get on the broom, you'll…" A hand was placed on her shoulder, and she turned around to see Ranma.

"You're not going to be able to convince him not to do it. There's a strong determination in his eye as he glares at the boy who is apparently his rival." She could tell that the two were well on there way to being in a complete rivalry, and there was no way anybody could stop it. Hell, she knew quite well about rivals. "To admit defeat to a rival is not something that sits well with that person. There's only one thing we can do."

"What's that?"

"Sit back and watch the action." Ranma simply said as she sat cross-legged and pulled out a bag of chips. Where she got the bag of chips was a mystery, and several people didn't care about that mystery as they stared at the girl for a second before turning back to the apparent confrontation.

"But…" Hermione was going to try and go on, but Harry had suddenly shot off on his broom to face the Malfoy boy head-on.

"I was right, Harry can fly well." Ranma said to herself as she watched. One of the biggest reasons she wanted to see this through was to check out just how well the boy could fly. 'He was completely nervous about not being able to, but he flies like he's done it all his life.' Talent like that was always a great thing to witness. 'Draco is all wobbly and nervous, but at least he didn't cry this time.'

She watched as the taunting match degraded to her brother deciding the 'smart' thing to do would be to toss the remem-something away from himself. Her eyes followed the movement of the Potter boy as he charged forward with an arm extended. 'He's a complete and utter natural.' She thought as she watched him catch the thing as he headed almost vertically towards the ground, and then pulled out at almost the last minute.

"That was some superb flying." The redhead commented to Hermione and Gosaria as the boy with the scar started landing back on the ground. She was about to speak up to the boy when a voice nearly shrieked across the field.

"HARRY POTTER!" Ranma's blue/red eyes looked to see Professor McGonagall running up to the group. She had a complete and utter shocked look on her face as she confronted her target. The older witch seemed to not be able to get her bearings straight as she talked to the green-eyed boy and pulled him away from everyone and walked off.

"Damn, hopefully he won't get into too much trouble." The redhead said with a frown as she watched them go. It just had to be some rotten luck that Harry was the one spotted, and not Draco.

Or so she thought…

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After flying lessons had ended, Ranma had pulled Draco aside and questioned him on just why he was acting like such a pompous jerk as of late. The response the redhead got made her frown. Apparently Lucius had much more of a hold over the boy than she originally thought. That and her brother had an apparent inferiority complex when it came to the Potter boy… a really big complex.

What had the cat-girl in even more of an annoyance was the fact that, during dinner, her brother had got POed at Harry and challenged him to some Wizard Duel at midnight. Her ears overheard him talking to Crabbe and Goyle that he didn't intend to even go to it. The blonde boy even mentioned that he sent an 'anonymous' tip to Filch about students who'll bee in the trophy room at midnight.

Ranma had confronted Draco about it, but her brother just shrugged it off with a smirk and said 'their loss'. He tried to convince the redhead that he was just weeding out the 'worthless bucket of fish' that infested Hogwarts; people who brought shame to the name of the noble wizards that were still around.

The pale-eyed boy got angry when his sister quipped back by saying 'Yeah… being a cowardly asshole is noble alright.' He reined in his anger, however, and proceeded to laugh bitterly. When he shook his head, he told Ranma that she'd understand in due time.

That was the very reason she was currently sneaking around in the dead of midnight. To make sure certain people didn't get their butts handed to them for blindly answering the challenge of someone who wasn't going to answer himself. She knew the trophy room was on the third floor, so all she had to do was sneak up there without being seen. It was something she decided to make into stealth training.

Every time she spotted something moving, she would duck into the wall and make sure that it wasn't a person. The redhead had a few close calls with running into some ghosts and Mrs. Norris. In her mind, she vaguely wondered what exactly Mrs. Norris would do to a 'fellow cat'. She may have been a student, but she was as much feline as any cat. Well not really, but it would make a little sense.

Finally on the third floor, she kept an eye out for anybody who could be moving around. She finally saw the people she was looking for, but there were two others with them. Hermione and Neville it seemed like. 'What they hell are they doing out here as well?' Her head shook for a second. 'Knowing Hermione, it's because she wanted to get those two to back off.'

Ranma's eyes narrowed when she caught sight of Peeves appearing in the area. The four began to tell him not to do anything, but the poltergeist would have none of that. Acting quickly, the redhead charged forth just as the apparition shouted out. "STUDENTS OUT OF BED! IN THE CHARM'S CORRIDOUMPH!" He suddenly found himself unable to speak as a pair of hands closed around his mouth, and a pair of legs wrapped around his body.

"You four find a place to hide while I have him gagged." The cat-girl commanded softly. Not asking any questions as to why the Malfoy sister was in the area, the four took off down the walk and came to a door. Concentrating a little, Ranma gave Peeves enough of an electric shock to keep him a little dazed. She then took off and caught up with the four who had just unlocked a door. Following suit, she jumped in with them.

"What are you doing here, Lina?" Hermione whispered to the girl who had helped them.

"I found out that Draco was just trying to trick Harry and Ron so he could get them in serious trouble. He left an 'anonymous' tip to Filch and all." Her eyes caught the sight of an angry Harry and Ron.

"That worthless piece of trash." The redheaded boy snapped as his friend was trying to think of another way to describe the blonde boy. They all quieted down when they heard the voices of Filch and Peeves talking. The poltergeist had still a bit dazed, so what he said didn't make too much sense.

"The butterscotch pudding ran away with the spoon of course." He said as he mumbled other random things as his voice faded off into the distance. Filch cursed after him before his voice, too, disappeared.

"He didn't even think to look in here. I guess it's because it was a locked door." Hermione's eyes then widened. "Wait… locked door on the third floor corridor?" That info caused everyone to look at each other. Weren't they actually in the area that was forbidden?

Ranma suddenly felt some warm breath on the back of her neck. Turning around, she came face to face with one of the heads of the dog she saw a few days ago. "Hey guys, I think I know the reason why this place is forbidden." Everyone turned around and almost screamed at the sight of a monstrously huge three headed dog that was as black as night, and its fangs were almost half a foot long and dripping with saliva. Those three pairs of blood-red eyes stared down at them.

"W… what is that thing?" Ron asked worriedly. Everybody was too scared to even move as they stared into the eyes and fangs of some sort of devil dog. Ranma, however, decided to stand her ground and tense up for if she needed to fight the thing. The thing may have had three heads, but it didn't seem to have anything else special about it.

All three heads of the large dog narrowed in on the young redhead. Their red eyes starring deep into those blue/red eyes, and those demon dog eyes suddenly blinked when the cat-girl's eyes suddenly flashed red. Four heads stared at each other; three of which belonging to one single creature. The staring match ended when the demon dog's three heads suddenly looked as if they were going to be ill and turned away.

"Wha?" Ranma asked in confusion as the dog began to get sick.

"I hope I'm not being rude Lina, but wasn't there talk going on about the whole 'a face that could even make a dragon sick'?" Hermione asked timidly to her friend. She didn't truly believe it, but this was some coincidence.

"Uh…" The cat-girl said dumbly before her eyes narrowed. Turning back to the three headed dog, she stalked up to it. The dog met her gaze again before almost becoming ill and backing away in fright. "You've got to be kidding me." Turning her head, she looked at the four by the door. "You four go ahead and get back to your dorms. I have a demon dog to chat with."

Nodding dumbly, the four first years made their way quietly out of the room and shut the door behind them. The remaining 11-year-old turned her head back to the demon dog, which ended up flinching as a hand reached out for it. It calmed down and opened its eyes when all it felt was a hand that was gently petting it. Looking at the object of what it was frightened of, the sight of a smile made it feel calm for some reason.

"Jeez, you're nothing but a big softhearted dog, aren't you?" She had never, in all her life, thought she would ever be petting a three headed dog from hell. Added to the fact that the demon dog was afraid of her for certain reasons that gave her a feeling of annoyance, and you got a weird situation on your hands.

"I honestly wonder if I _**CAN**_ spook a dragon." She said to herself with a frown. She did not want a reputation similar to Lina Inverse's, and she was damn sure she was going to try and avoid that outcome. The demon dog suddenly yawned and laid its heads down against Ranma. The redhead was now sitting on her butt with one of the heads of the dog lying in her lap. "Oh this is _**real**_ lovely."

xxA.Nxx

Alright, this chapter is finally done. It was an extremely hard chapter to do for some reason. I had actually started this chapter before I started 'The Ectoplasmic Arts' and 'Genius and Ditz'. I was stumped near the beginning of the chapter though, and decided to come back to it later. Hopefully the next chapters would be easier to think up.


	10. Anger Management and Halloween Don't Mix

Wild Magic

Ranma 1/2, Slayers, and any other series used in this fanfic are owned by their respective creators/publishers/whatever

A light bit about the timeline. The Harry Potter timeline has been bumped up a few years to around 2004. Hopefully it's not too big of a thing.

Ranma born in 1977   
Ranma died in 1993  
Ranma reborn in 1993  
Ranma enters Hogwarts in 2004

Thanks to CyberSkaarj again for pre-reading.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Chapter 10

Dumbledore sighed as he listened to two of the people in front of him talk about a current student at this school. It was apparent that the young Malfoy girl was getting on their nerves with the way she acted at times. "She's not that bad, Minerva, Severus."

"I will admit that she's good at doing magic, Headmaster." Prof. McGonagall said with a slight smile. It was nice to see someone with such potential. Her face then became stern again. "She has a terrible attitude and temper though. She also causes small bits of damage whenever she tries to transfigure something. It's not as bad as on the first day though, but it does get annoying."

Snape interjected at that point. "She's a rude little girl who has no true respect for anything I do. Miss Malfoy thinks of me as some kind of joke, and not even the couple of detentions I've given her seem to work. The big problem seems to be her temper, and I noticed that she doesn't act back as bad as she does when her temper has been reached."

"It's almost like she has another part of her that's trying to get out." McGonagall finished.

"Yes" the bearded wizard said softly. Ranma _**DID **_seem to have the personality of almost a millennium old long dead sorceress trying to combine with her current personality. That process in itself would be one to make anyone unstable for the time being. "You could kind of say that." Both teachers looked at him with a slight bit of confusion before he waved it off. "It's not important at the least."

"Well what are we going to do about the girl then?" The potion's master asked with a slight snarl. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but the redhead had managed to scare him beyond all reason. That was something that not many people were been capable of doing.

Dumbledore softly raised a hand and began to speak again. "I have sent a message to Lina's current guardian about the small issues that have currently been going on about the things she has been doing." His eyes twinkled at the look he was receiving. "I assure you two, Miss Malfoy's guardian is not somebody she could ignore the warnings of easily. Not even I would dare bring myself to get on her bad side." That was, of course, for fear of having the diminutive scientist experiment on him with all sorts of foreign objects.

Both professors stared at the headmaster with slightly shocked looks. Who in this world was capable of putting fear into this old man, when the guy was someone who could even stand up to You-Know-Who and not let loose an ounce of fear? The whole thought sent a shiver down their spines.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Wait, you weren't here in the dorms last night?" Gosaria asked with wide eyes. She could have sworn her redheaded friend was there.

Ranma blinked at her a few times before responding. "I distinctly told you last night I had things to do. You even watched me leave." It had taken a little longer than she wanted to get away from the demon dog thing. It had been sleeping so peacefully that the cat-girl didn't want to interrupt it. The only thing worse had been the drool… lots of drool. The dang thing could probably fill a swimming pool with it on its own.

"Oh that's right." The blonde said with a few blinks. It was all coming back to her now. "You… mentioned something about running into a three headed dog." She began to scratch her head. "Dog's don't usually have three heads though. That means it had to be a monster or demon." Her azure eyes went wide again after a few more seconds as she gripped Ranma's shoulders. "Lina, that means there's a monster living in the school!"

"Uh… duh?" Why the hell did Gosaria sometimes act like this? "Not to be rude Gosaria, but sometimes you seem to lapse into the mentality of a jellyfish. You're smart and all, but sometimes you have these unexplained lapses." It really didn't make any sense at all.

A small blush appeared on the blonde's cheeks. "That's one of the reasons why my family thought I'd most likely be chosen to Hufflepuff. My slight mental lapses, lacking talent, and all that were what gave that idea. The hat mentioned I have all the traits for Gryffindor, but my ambition and other things outshined all that."

Ranma began to frown at the slight depression she was feeling from her friend. She did not like to see people sad. "Hey, come on. I'm sure you have talent hidden inside of you. You just have to work on it. If you didn't, then the broom wouldn't have tried to get into your hand yesterday. You also do well in Transfiguration and Charms." A smile came to her when the blonde started to perk up.

Confusion played on the redhead's face when she saw Nashigi walking around with a dazed look in her eyes. "What's wrong with you?"

"I'm not really sure." The older girl responded as she shook her head. "I had some odd dreams about a scantily clad woman named Naga the Serpent." She missed the twitching in the younger girl's eye. "Her laugh was completely similar to mine. It was absolutely fantastic to hear it from the listener's point of view. It's a beautiful laugh." A smile appeared on her face.

"Please don't" Ranma softly said with her eyes closed.

"In fact, I think…"

"Oh god… for the love of all that is right in the world…" The redhead and blonde were starting to feel a bit of dread.

"…this calls for my lovely laugh." As she began to open her mouth, two different hands reached up and blocked the opening. "MMPH!" The dark-haired girl tried to shout angrily towards her friends. Both younger girls looked at each other before removing their hands, hoping it had passed. "OOHOHOHOHOHOHOOOO!!!"

Gosaria had to use all her might to restrain her cat-girl friend from attacking her obviously crazy rival. "Come on Lina, let's just go to breakfast." The long haired blonde began dragging her redhead friend away from the laughing girl. For some reason, those two seemed to bring out the worse in each other at times.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As the odd trio made their way to the Great Hall, they spotted Harry and Ron. As all five of them entered the doors, Ron whispered to Ranma. "What happened with the demon dog? We were all reluctant to leave while you were in there." The two boys were completely surprised when the beast turned chicken when it looked at the cat-girl. That allowed Harry to see a small trapdoor under the dog. The two then began to talk about it.

"Oddly enough, it was a nice and gentle thing." She received a look of utter shock before the bespectacled boy spoke up.

"You think that vicious thing was nice and gentle? It would have killed us if you weren't there." It was almost scary to think that an 11-year-old girl could stare down a three headed monstrous demon dog with just a look.

"As much as I'd hate to admit the whole outcome" the blue/red eyed martial artist/sorceress stated with a frown. "The dog ended up sleeping with its middle head lying in my lap after I showed the big thing I wouldn't hurt it. I also received one very large and slobbery lick on the face." Who knew that so much slobber would come with just one lick?

"Well I'm glad you were with us, otherwise the two idiots here would have gotten us all killed." A new voice whispered softly. They all looked around to see Hermione giving a slight glare that was directed at the two boys. "I mean really… blindly answering some stupid challenge in the middle of the night?"

"As much as I'd really hate to admit it, Hermione" Ranma began with a slight blush. "I probably would have done the same thing if I was challenged." She watched as her friend gave a small sigh and a shake of the head. Out the corner of her eye, she saw Harry and Ron give her a couple of relieved looks. The kind that said they were glad they weren't the only ones who'd do something like that.

"You have a bunch of strange abilities to back it up though." The bushy-haired girl commented. She remembered how the cat-girl seemed to appear out of nowhere and distract the poltergeist. "These two were just completely lucky." With a final glare at the boys, Hermione walked over to the tables and sat down.

"She's such an annoying busybody." Ron said with a frown while Harry reluctantly nodded his agreement. Ranma's face broke into a frown itself after hearing what the boy just said about her friend. "Don't tell me you don't agree." The Weasley boy spoke with a blink.

"She may be bookish, serious, and a few other things, but if you got past all those faults, you'd find that she is a completely capable friend." That fact was something she knew, and it had shined through yesterday after what she had said to the girl. If Hermione wasn't capable of getting past the few issues she had, then the two wouldn't have become friends again.

Sighing at the slight stubbornness over the two at their apparent dislike over Hermione, the cat-girl made her way over to the Slytherin table with Gosaria and Nashigi. "Think those three will ever see eye-to-eye?" The raven-haired girl with the crazy laugh asked.

"Unless there's some odd life threatening event that has to do with someone saving the other's life from some violent and evil monster, I don't see it happening." Hell, even if that happened she wasn't even sure it was possible. Maybe she was just still thinking in terms from her previous life. 'These are children we're talking about. It could very well happen.'

"Lina, look at your brother." Gosaria whispered to the redhead while pointing towards the Great Hall entrance. "He looks as if he swallowed a skunk on the run or something." The blonde received a couple of very odd looks for that strange comment before Ranma looked over and saw that Draco did indeed look completely shocked at seeing Ron and Harry.

"It looks like he's shocked that his scheme to get rid of the two didn't work." The redhead observed with a slight smile. Her blue/red eyes then watched as the blonde boy made his way to the table with Crabbe and Goyle. He then sat down with an angered huff.

"How the hell did Potter and Weasley not get caught?" He asked with a sour look on his face. "It was such a fool-proof plan too."

"The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry." Ranma offered. She remembered when Washu had made her read that poem one time. She then saw the look everyone had gave her. "Eh, just part of a poem my guardian made me read one day. It means no matter how carefully something is planned, it could still go wrong."

"Feh, it's just my luck for Potter to have the contents of some poem helping him along." Draco said bitterly as he began to eat. This also included watching his sister and her friends compete in who could eat the most food again. "I swear that every time I see that, I feel like I'm almost going to get sick." He whispered to Crabbe and Goyle.

"And here I was thinking we were greedy with food." Goyle commented offhandedly as his large friend gave a frown and nod.

It wasn't long before the mail started to arrive, and apparently the large and weird owl that brought things to Ranma from Washu was the first to come and dropped two letters in front of the redhead. Opening the first letter, she took a look at it and made a small frown. Apparently Happosai had somehow been able to come in contact with Washu.

_To Ranma_

_I decided that we'll be starting your training tonight instead of tomorrow, so meet me near the lake around 7:00pm. Don't be late, or I will come and hunt you down and drag you by your hair. I might also force you into a nice bit of lingerie for punishment as well. Oh, I do hope you are late and let me do that. You may be short and flat chested, but you will still look like a cute little thing._

_Remember… 7:00pm_

_Grand Master of Anything Goes: Happosai_

'Stupid little troll.' Ranma thought to herself before opening and looking at the other letter. When her eyes caught sight of what was written on the next letter, she became almost as pale as a sheet.

_To my little troublemaking student_

_I got word from Headmaster Dumbledore about you causing some problems with your attitude and slight disrespect to some of the teachers. I would like to remind you, dear Ranma, that this is not something that I can turn an eye away from. I know some of it might be due to the by-product of having two different personalities trying to meld together, but that's no excuse to act the way it is said you are._

_I don't think we want to have a repeat of our little sessions we had years ago that involved us trying to curb your little attitude problems. We did not, and still don't, need another person who acted like Ryoko causing problems. (My daughter sure did have a negative impact on you in some things, but we know I __**talked**__ to her about it.)_

_If you don't rein in your temper and attitude, we __**WILL**__ have to commence on some more 'classes' in fixing the problem when you return. We also have to remember your little choker you are wearing._

Ranma fingered the small black strip around her neck with the jewel in the center. Sure she could remove the thing, but that would send a signal to Washu.

_I hope you didn't forget that I can activate it from anywhere, and I'm not so sure you would like to have all your abilities stripped away for a small time. I am also aware about the issue of technology working in that magical imbedded place. This is why I did a little tweaking to make it work. If you step out of line anymore for no real reason, say goodbye to __**ALL**__ your abilities for a week. I don't think you would enjoy that very well at all. 'Auntie' Nodoka also agrees on this as well. She still does think of you as her child, and does not appreciate how you are acting at all._

_Speaking of your family, your 'cousin' Sakura made a new friend today at her elementary school. Her new friend's a little girl with blonde hair in a double odango style with small pigtails. Sakura's doing well, but Genma keeps on trying to get her interested in martial arts. Nodoka keeps him in line with the threat of decapitating him though._

_Continue on with your studies Ranma, and don't let it come down to me having to strip away your abilities every time you get in trouble. I mean it._

_Have a good day_

_Greatest Scientific Genius in the Universe: Washu._

"Damn it Washu." Ranma said with a face devoid of any color. She did _**NOT**_ want that punishment at all. Nashigi noticed the girl's current state of being and leaned over with a smile on her face.

"Does someone have a small fear over what's written on that paper?" She didn't understand Japanese, but something seemed to be spooking the redhead. "What's on that paper anyway?" She received a somewhat haunted look.

"The old fart apparently contacted my guardian about my attitude, temper, and all that stuff. Washu's not all that happy, and expressed it."

"How exactly did she express it?" What exactly could the girl's guardian do to make her go pale and all? Her blue eyes blinked when the cat-girl pointed to the small choker she was wearing. The redhead then pulled Nashigi and Gosaria close.

"Let's just say that this thing has some magical properties, and that I was threatened with it if I stepped out of line again without a valid reason. She has the ability to activate it, and all of my abilities will then be stripped away for a week." It wasn't magical, but it was the best way to describe without a long story. "Meaning I would be as powerless as a normal 11-year-old. Washu is not a woman to cross when she's serious."

Both girls thought about what their friend would be like powered down. Gosaria thought that the redhead would probably be even shorter tempered than she already was. Nashigi went on to think about the thought of standing over her defeated rival while laughing. That thought was tossed out by the fact that it wouldn't be a real defeat. The dark-haired girl gave a smile as she looked at Ranma.

"So you happen to be afraid of this woman?"

"Of course I'm not afraid of Washu. As I said, there is nothing that I have a fear of." Well, she did have a couple, but Washu didn't even come close. The woman _**WAS**_ someone not to cross. She was also damn sure that she would never reveal those fears to anybody. Her blue/red eyes then looked over to her brother who was staring over at the Gryffindor table. "What's wrong with you, Draco?"

"You have got to be kidding me." He said as he continued to look towards the Gryffindor table. "It looks like Potter has got a damn broom." His sister took a glance over and saw Harry holding up a package that did indeed look to be in the shape of a broom. "There is no way I'm letting this thing go." The pale boy said as he and his two friends got up and walked out of the Great Hall before Harry and Ron did.

"Think we should do something?" Gosaria asked as she watched them leave.

"Nah, but I would like to see what that was all about." Ranma said as she got up and walked towards the Great Hall with the two girls behind her. When they got to the doors, they met up with Hermione. "Curious about what's going on as well?"

"A little." The bushy-haired girl answered back as they made it out of the area and caught some of the conversation that was going on.

"…McGonagall told me about the special circumstances, Potter. And what model is it?" Prof. Flitwick asked with a little smile on his face.

"A Nimbus Two Thousand, sir." Ranma could see the glee on the green-eyed boys face as he looked at the expression on Draco's face. The final nail was added to the coffin when the boy said "And it's really thanks to Draco here that I have it." She then watched as the two boys headed up the stairs.

"Those two must think it's a reward for breaking rules." Hermione said with a large frown as she marched away from the three and up the stares to tell the two boys what she thought. Ranma, meanwhile, walked up to her brother.

"You ok, Draco?" The redhead was able to feel the negative mood that was rolling off the blonde boy in waves. "Um… you ok, bro?" It was then that the boy turned in her direction with eyes blazing in anger.

"Why the hell does that bastard get all this special treatment?!" The voice was low, but it held within it the intensity of his anger. "His only claim to fame is that he survived the damn Dark Lord. That's all it is. Worse yet, he was a baby at the time and doesn't even remember it."

"Whoa, calm down Draco." Ranma said as she put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "It's not his fault that he's popular and all." If she didn't do anything, the kid would start to go crazy. "He doesn't even seem to care much for the attention."

"Well for someone who doesn't care for it, he sure gets a lot of it. He's been talked about in books, newspapers, by word of mouth, and other forms. He doesn't deserve all the crap." His eyes narrowed again. "Then there's that damn Weasley…"

Giving a sigh, the redhead put an arm around her brother's shoulder and started leading him away. "Come on Draco, try and calm down. Does any of this really affect you?" Draco was really starting to let this get to him for some reason.

"It affects all of wizarding society, sis." The pale boy said with a heavy sigh. "Why should a false hero be worshipped and get away with things that most wouldn't? Why should he get special treatment? There is no way a normal person would still be here after that whole flying incident, and not getting caught at midnight. Why should the luck extend to his poor-ass friend as well?"

"Now hold on Draco." Ranma stated as she stopped him in place. "What does wealth have to do with anything?" There was that damn pompous and 'higher than thou' attitude again.

"I suppose you wouldn't understand since you've been living somewhere else for most of the time during all these years." He gave a shake with his blonde head. "I appreciate you trying to cheer me up, sis." An actual smile appeared on his face as he was saying that. It only lasted a few seconds before turning into a scowl. "I won't be truly happy until I have destroyed that bastard's happiness. Come on Crabbe, Goyle."

Watching the three walk off, the cat-girl scratched the back of her head as a frown appeared on her face. 'This situation suddenly reminds me of Ryoga. Only this time it appears fully personal, deeply engraved, and serious to an extent not even pig boy had. Speaking of pig boy, I wonder how Akari and he are doing. I also wonder when Akane will forgive him after finding out about P-chan five years ago.' That event had been the one to bring the tomboy's temper to a full boil, and Ryoga almost hadn't escaped alive. Ranma thanked her lucky stars that she was still a child at the time with child tendencies to get frightened and all. Otherwise Akane would have turned that anger to her for keeping it a secret.

'That was a scary day…'

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The day had been moving slowly for the redheaded martial artist/sorceress. Apparently Snape knew about her getting in trouble with Washu, and she didn't know how until the greasy-haired idiot explained that McGonagall and he off and complained to Dumbledore. The old fart, in turn, knew about the issues and had sent a message to Washu about it.

This bit of info angered Ranma, and Snape knew it. He took great pleasure in using his own brand of taunting against her. She almost came to blows several times, but she managed to reel it all in with the Soul of Ice. It would just be what the bastard wanted her to do, and she wouldn't allow him that satisfaction.

She did get a little accidental fun against the guy though. During the lesson, they were working with a potion that was slightly more volatile a potion than usual. If more than the right amount of a certain ingredient was placed into it, it _**WOULD**_ explode. The potion wouldn't be hazardous to the skin, just act like boiling water.

As she was putting powdered dragon toenail into the potion, she accidentally put more than she was supposed to in. The potion started to bubble and plop like crazy within the cauldron. This brought Snape over to investigate the potion itself, and around that time is when the whole contents exploded outwards and hit the professor.

The now slightly boiled teacher yelled at her for doing such a thing, and Ranma shot back that it was an accident. The redhead then started to feel an odd feeling in her mind, as if something was rooting around in there, and the fact that Snape was calmly staring at her was not a good sign. Narrowing her eyes, she used what abilities she could to toss the feeling out of her mind and sent a glare to the hook-nosed professor.

The fact that the guy seemed to hold an apparent form of mind reading, which was probably another one of these stupid wizarding abilities, did not sit well for her. The guy could very well read her mind and figure out things he didn't need to know. She decided to herself that she would ask the old fart about it later.

The rest of the day after that proved boring and uneventful. That was except for the small hilarious moment in which she phased through a wall and met up with a couple of people on the other side. The looks of shock they had were priceless as they fell on their butts and stared at her in wide eyes.

The possibility of this being yet another aspect of her that would be known around the whole school by morning was a very high one. If it became known through the school, then so be it. The whole fact would make it so people would be wary to talk about her 'behind her back' without some fear of her being around and popping out unexpectedly. The two she shocked _**HAD**_ been talking about her after-all.

The whole idea caused a slight maniacal giggle to escape her at the thought of using her phasing instead of magic to get back at people. She didn't think she could get in trouble for a little harmless phasing now and then. Her maniacal giggle caused a few people who were around her to suddenly feel uncomfortable. A short tempered cat-girl with incredible magical and physical ability that could actually move through walls and make Peeves nervous, considering the poltergeist used to only be nervous about the Bloody Baron, was not someone you'd like to suddenly hear giving off a sinister giggle.

In fact, some of the people decided right then and there that the best thing to do would be to run to their dorms and hide under the covers. This event of people running away had actually caused Ranma to scratch her head in confusion.

When it finally hit a few minutes to 7:00pm, Ranma was lounging around the Slytherin house and reading one of the books Washu wanted her to read. The redhead saw the time and put the book away before jumping up and phasing through the ceiling. This action ended up surprising a few Slytherins who were also there.

Phasing through the ceiling, she had found herself in the lake for the first time since her first day. Her eyes caught sight of the odd creatures that she saw on the same day. They were the ugly green ones that tried to attack her. If she remembered correctly, they were called Grindylow. It looked like they were shocked again at seeing her phase into their lake.

They tried to attack her again, but were blasted back by a small bit of electrical magic as the redhead moved through to the surface. It only took a few seconds before the broke the surface and made a small flip leap onto the back of the water.

"I didn't expect you to appear like that, Ranma." A voice said from behind. Turning her head, the 11-year-old saw the diminutive form of Happosai. "The waters look a wee bit dangerous to be around a school like this. They do say there is Mermaid in this lake though."

"You don't say?" It would be interesting if she could get a glimpse of one. She slightly wondered if they actually were as beautiful as legends said. "So what now, pervert?"

"This spot isn't a good place for training. Follow me." The small man said as he bounced off into the woods. With a shrug, the redhead followed after him into the dense forest. It was a few minutes before they came to a nicely sized clearing with a few tree stumps and soft grass on the ground.

"Nice place, isn't it?" Ranma's eyes widened before turning around to look at the owner of the voice. Standing near one of the trees was the obvious form of Xellos. He looked almost bored as he gave off a large yawn.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" It was at that moment that Happosai jumped onto the cat-girl's head.

"Xellos here helped me perform a little deed of mine a couple of days ago." He took a puff on his pipe before continuing. "Yes indeed. Without him I never would have been able to get into Hogwarts and steal a few of my silky darlings."

"Causing chaos is my pleasure, Happosai." The purple haired mazouku said with his goofy smile before looking right at Ranma. "We found out something that was quite interesting as well."

"Yeah, what's that?" The cat-girl asked with a large frown. It was just her luck to be in this forest with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. Who the hell knew the two would get along so well? She felt her head get lighter as the aged master of Anything Goes jumped off and headed for a sack that was lying on the ground.

"That old lady McGonagall is quite something." Happosai commented as he rummaged through the sack before pulling something out. "Who would have guessed that someone so strict and seemingly un-fun would be in the possession of these?" Ranma's eyes widened as big as saucers when she caught sight of a black and very lacy bra along with a black and very lacy pair of… almost thong-like panties.

"What the hell?!"

"Could you imagine someone like her in something like these?" Happosai asked with a humorous laugh. Ranma's eyes began to glaze over as the thought ran into her head.

"Oh god… make the bad images go away." She said as she clutched her head.

"It could be worse, girl." Happosai stated as he took another puff from his pipe. "It could be Cologne who was wearing the things." The aged pervert and purple haired demon were treated to the sight of Ranma banging her head against the trunk of a tree. After a moment of doing this, the cat-girl stopped.

"I'll never look at McGonagall the same way again." She said to herself before looking towards Xellos. "So what's the demon doing here?" She asked with a point.

"I'm going to be helping you a little bit with your magic." The trickster said with a slight yawn. "You are still lacking some control with it. You are aware of how much you overuse it at times when doing some of the weaker things with a wand, are you not?" He received a small nod from the redhead. "That's because you are still unfocused in your magic, and could you imagine what could happen if you end up blowing your top? As much as I like destruction and mayhem, it wouldn't be good for your image."

"I suppose that wouldn't be good." Ranma said with a side glance. A small thought suddenly came to mind. "Hey, Xellos."

"Yes?"

"I think I found a reincarnation of that Naga woman I have a few memories about in some of the dreams I have been having lately. I was wondering if there are any more reincarnations of people Lina knew in the past."

"Hmm…" Xellos said as he put on a show of thinking. Finally, he raised a finger and began to speak. "That is a…"

"If you tell me 'That is a secret', I'm going to make you eat a fireball." The cat-girl warned with a glare. She had no clue why the phrase bugged her so much, but it was right up there with _**The Laugh**_.

The purple-haired priest gave a frown in her direction. "You're no fun." At the glare he continued. "As for your question, yes there are a few others. None of them have any memories of the past, but they still contain several of the quirks they had."

"What about… _**Luna**_?" A shiver ran down Ranma's spine at the mention of that woman. All the dream memories she had of that lady were not pleasant at all. Lina Inverse must have been truly spooked out of her mind of the older sibling. A memory showed that even just a letter from the woman sent the young Inverse into a frenzy by creating a complete working pyramid with tunnels and a sarcophagus to hide in. If there were any more memories of the two Inverses, then the cat-girl hoped beyond anything that she wouldn't become even more terrified than she already was of that woman.

"You mean you want to know if Luna Inverse has a reincarnation?" Another shiver ran down the redhead's spine. "Well I'm not really sure on that part. There might be, and yet there might not be." The fear the demon was feeling from the girl was nice. Who knew a name could do that to someone. "Luna Inverse"

"GAH! Will you freaking cut that out?! Jeez, now I know how these wizarding people feel over the name Voldemort. But unlike that joke, _**SHE**_ was a true incarnation of evil… so very evil. Those things she used in her _punishments_ were just as evil." Eyes wide, she jumped at Xellos faster than the guy could blink and put her hand over his mouth. "Don't even say the name of the things. Otherwise you will be begging for mercy." The voice was icy and devoid of all emotion. She then jumped away from the purple-haired demon and looked towards Happosai. "So what now, old pervert?"

"Now we fully gage your skills." The old master stated as he jumped forward to send a punch at Ranma's head. The cat-girl ducked the punch and did a flip to clip the pervert on the back. Said pervert turned around and caught the kick before it could connect. The redhead suddenly found herself flat on her back.

Jumping back to her feet, she hopped over a leg sweep and used Happosai's head as a springboard. Landing onto the ground, she dodged a kick that was aimed for her chest, but was clipped by a spinning kick that was done soon after. She turned around just in time to catch the old man leap at her and hop away.

There was a slight drafty feeling for some reason that the redhead noticed. Looking down, Ranma's eyes twitched to see that her clothing had been stripped, and some baby blue lingerie were in its place. "Damn it Happosai." She growled out as she quickly changed.

"You're too slow Ranma. That's why I was able to do that without you noticing. I could have used a near see-though negligee, but that would be a bit too perverted for even me. You _**ARE**_ eleven after-all."

"Gee… you are so kind." The redhead sarcastically offered

"I think it would have looked fantastic." Xellos spoke up with his trademark goofy smile.

"You stay out of this, sicko." Ranma said with a point towards the purple haired demon. Turning back to the aged master, she got into a ready stance. As if to an unheard signal, both combatants jumped at each other. The redhead sent a punch that was dodged by the diminutive old man, but she used her tail to grab a hold of his leg and give him a toss. She watched as he righted himself in mid-air and landed on his feet.

An odd jingle distracted the cat-girl from her stare. Looking behind her, she saw a black bow and a large golden bell were tied to her tail. "I think it suits you Ranma." Happosai offered with a chuckle as he leapt towards his current pupil again. He was left dodging between fists as the girl activated the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken. Bringing out his pipe, the aged master parried each blow while hitting a pressure point on both hands bringing a temporary numbness to the blue/red eyed girl.

"Damn" Ranma cursed before she attempted to deliver several series of quick kicks. Most of them were blocked, but a couple managed to land on the pervert. With feeling coming back to her hands, the cat-girl blocked a pipe strike that was headed for her cranium. Grabbing the instrument, she yanked it away before sending a quick punch to the gut of the grand master. To her surprise, Happosai grabbed her hand and went along with the punch before leaping over the fist and gave the redhead a well placed kick between the eyes.

Staggering back, the reincarnated girl shook the stars out of her eyes before staring back at her opponent. "That's enough sparring." Happosai said with a raised hand. "We really do have a lot to work with if we hope to get you up to speed."

"I'm not _**THAT**_ bad." Ranma said indignantly. Her attention was then focused to the bell on her tail. Reaching for it, she attempted to remove it, but was shocked for doing so. "What the hell?"

"Oh" Happosai mentioned with a slight smile. "As you probably figured from earlier with the letter, I had a little meeting with Washu. Of course the whole 'stripping you of your abilities for a week' thing will be put into effect at later punishments, but Washu decided you needed one to remind you of it. She figured a bow with a bell on it would be a sufficient. She knew it would bug the hell out of you. It was also fixed so only one of three people could remove it, otherwise the person who did would receive a small shock."

"Well, who are the people?"

"Washu, Dumbledore, and I."

"You people are so sadistic." Ranma said with a frown as she looked at the blasted bow on her tail. Every time she gave a swish, the bell would jingle. "Can I get even more cat-like?" She asked in a slightly pained tone. An object was then tossed to her and she caught it. The thing was revealed to be a small yarn ball. With a slight glazed expression, she began to toss the ball into the air several times before shaking her head. "Wait a minute… damn you Happosai!"

The aforementioned pervert gave an evil chuckle as he dodged the ball of yarn. "You are so much more fun to tease in this life, Ranma." Getting control of himself, he leveled a serious look at the cat-girl. "No more fooling around. It's time to get to the training."

"Bring it on, freak."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Damn the guy is brutal." Ranma said to herself as she made her way back into Hogwarts a little over two hours later. Her body ached like no tomorrow, and it almost felt like moving any more muscles would cause her to collapse into a heap on the ground. Even her tail was in pain from it all as it swished around with the stupid bow and bell tied to it.

This would currently explain why she was relying on her masu abilities to get back into the Slytherin dorms so she could take a nice hot bath and then fall into bed for a nice long rest. A part of her was not looking forward to doing this again for the next two nights, and every week as well. There was another part of her, however, who was anticipating it.

Ignoring the looks she was receiving from several Slytherins as she phased and floated though into the common room, she proceeded down the steps towards the bathing area. Upon entering, she got out of her clothing and submerged herself into the water. The girls who were currently in the bathing area could only stare as the cat-girl of Slytherin began to actually purr as she sat in the water.

"Now we know the girl purrs." Ranma blinked before lowering herself deeper into the water in embarrassment. Looking over, she saw that the one who said it was the older girl she met on her first time in the bath. It was the one with the blue hair, Jesera. "Ah, did I embarrass you?" The older girl asked as she moved over to the redhead.

"Of course not." The cat-girl said as she sat in the spot and allowed the hot water to move around her. She subconsciously found herself purring again at the sensation. "Damn it." She swore to herself. A slight pout formed when the older girl began to laugh.

"I haven't had this much entertainment at this school before you came along. You've really managed to turn this place upside down." The blue-haired woman gave Ranma a pat on the back, which caused her to stiffen at the pain that suddenly shot through her body. "I think it's time I get out of this water before I start to prune or something. Catch you later, Red Cat." Blue/red eyes whipped into Jesera's direction as soon as she said that.

'Crap, that name is getting around.' The redhead gave a silent curse against a certain two Weasley boys for creating the name. 'Lina the Red Cat probably will become a used thing. Damn you Fred and George.' It was at that moment that Laira appeared on the cat-girl's head.

'But momma, it fits you so well. It's much better than all those other names, as well that Devil Girl one.' Everyone watched as a small creature that looked like some odd cross between a cat and rabbit jumped into the water and began swimming around.

'I'd rather be known as the Crimson Eyed Devil Girl instead of the Red Cat.' A sigh escaped her after that thought. 'Ok, maybe it doesn't matter at all, just as long as none of these nicknames make it out into the public. Here in Hogwarts I don't care, but if they make it out there…'

'Then you'll be the most famous cat-girl, martial artist, sorceress, dragon spooker, short tempered…'

'Don't say another word.' Ranma commanded fiercely before changing the subject. 'What exactly did you do today, Laira?' She could feel the joy of the cabbit through their link.

'I had loads of fun. I stalked a few house-elves, begged carrots off of them, got into some arguments with cats from other houses, had conversations with that phoenix thingy, and cheered up some ghost named Myrtle. I even had an accidental run in with that big three headed dog.'

'Really? What happened, any interesting conversations?' For some reason, Laira was able to communicate with a wide variety of animals, while Ranma was only able to do it with feline and feline-like creatures. There was a slight possibility she could learn though.

'Well after he stopped trying to eat me, I found out his name. His name is Fluffy.'

"_**FLUFFY?!**_" The redhead shouted out loud, earning her a few stares from some people who were still bathing. 'Who for the love of it all would name a large, hulking, three headed dog with glowing red eyes and incredibly sharp fangs _Fluffy_?'

'From what I learned, that Hagrid guy was the one who named him.' The cat-girl thought about that for a second. She then proceeded to give a small shrug. The guy was huge and all, so it would kind of make sense.

'You know, I should really pay that Hagrid guy a visit and ask him a few things. Such as what those weird horses I saw yesterday were.'

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The next day found Ranma completely sore throughout her entire body from the previous night. Moving just a little bit of her body would cause shooting pain all over her body, and that was not a fun thing to experience. Gosaria, Nashigi, and Draco were the first three to ask her what had happened. Her response to them had simply been 'I've been training'.

It was later that morning when she mustered up the strength to travel over to the hut that Hagrid lived in. With a painful knock, the door opened to reveal the large form of the bearded man. There was also a large dog, far smaller than 'Fluffy', who appeared at the door and jumped on her to lick her face. The pain from that caused the redhead to shoot the dog a glare. The aforementioned glare made the dog whimper and cower back into the hut.

The large shaggy-haired man apologized for what had just happened, but Ranma waved it off and issued her apology to the large dog for scaring it. Hagrid had asked the cat-girl what the pleasure of the visit was, and her response had been that there were a few things she wanted to know.

First up was about the strange winged horse that was roaming around on the outskirts of the forest. She was shocked to find out that the creature, A Thestral Hagrid had called it, was actually a creature that could only be seen by people who had witnessed and accepted a death. That very idea was somewhat humorous to the redhead. You can't witness any death greater than your own. There was also the 'death' of Saffron. He had been reborn though, but she guessed that counted. There were also a few other deaths that she had bore witness to while living with Tenchi and the others. That mostly had to do with odd villains who would sometimes show up and try to kill one of them.

The next question had been one that Ranma had to put together properly. Her story had been that she was moving around the castle, Hagrid apparently knew about her phasing ability somehow, and that she accidentally found herself in a room with a three headed demon dog. The giant of the man had been annoyed at first that she had been in the area, but accepted the 'accident' story.

It was his turn to be shocked when the cat-girl said that Fluffy had been scared of her, and had actually laid a head on her lap and went to sleep. He broke into a large smile, however, and joyfully told her that she had a remarkable way with creatures for the dog to do something like that. Not even he himself had been able to tame the thing that well.

The two had sat in silence for a little while as they drank some tea Hagrid had made. Ranma actually found it quite good, and the large boarhound had made his way up to her and nervously licked her hand. She had been quite surprised when the large man had told her the thing's name was Fang. Apparently someone got a little mixed up in the naming of creatures.

The shaggy haired-man went on to mention that he thought a dragon would be the best creature to have as a pet. His guest made a quick quip about needing fire-resistant everything if that were the case. The topic that then came down was the whole 'Dragon Spooker' name that people were apparently calling the redhead. Hagrid had actually been curious if that was actually true. He then had to laugh at the slight indignant look on the girl's face.

The rest of the day after that held little of interest to the redhead until it was time for more training. Even though her body ached like never before, she was still looking forward to the whole thing. The thought sounded completely weird to the cat-girl as well.

It turned out that Happosai and Xellos had decided to alternate between martial arts and magic training. The magic training required a bunch of boring meditation and focus to try and get just enough magic for the job. It was frustrating, but easier than trying to hold her own against the old pervert while her body rebelled against itself in pain.

It ended up taking a couple weeks of meditation and focus, but Ranma was finally able to use magic from a wand without a high probability of accidentally blowing something up. The threat was still there, but it was lowered considerably. The diminutive man's training, on the other hand, proved to be just as twisted and sadistic as before.

The redhead was completely miffed when the ancient master had said that he would only remove the bow and bell from her tail when she was able to fully able to defeat him in a fight. A final quip was added from the pervert about 'probably being a long while' earned him a quick fireball that charred him a little. At least the redhead finally had a goal to work towards. The damn bell/bow was annoying as hell, and the fact that a lot of people had gone on to say it was 'adorable' had been even worse.

It was a few days later in which Ranma had another run-in with Quintinsy. The boy had apparently been driven a little crazy somehow. At least the redhead thought so, because he was talking to himself and all. The dark-haired boy mentioned that an anonymous benefactor had been helping him with some magic that he could use to get back at her. Who the anonymous benefactor had been was a question on the cat-girl's mind. She couldn't figure who in this school would like to do her in… other than the obviously deranged person in front of her.

Because of Professor Flitwick appearing around the corner, the confrontation hadn't gone anywhere dangerous. Quintinsy had assured Ranma that they would meet again, and that he _**WOULD**_ teach her a lesson at that time. A maniacal laugh then accompanied the boy as he walked off. The redhead came to the conclusion that the boy was indeed deranged.

It was after that event that the days seem to fly by quickly. She didn't know where the time went, but she didn't really care. Hogwarts was starting to feel monotonous and boring. Sure there were the frequent training sessions, but that was it. The cat-girl was getting restless and impatient for something to happen. She didn't care what, just as long as something happened. She wasn't used to this much peace and quiet.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Halloween morning had approached quickly, and a few of the girls in the Slytherin dorm found the sight before them to be slightly amusing. The resident Cat Girl of Slytherin was sleeping in her bed with covers strewn about, a bit of drool coming from her mouth, and her nose twitching at the smell of baking pumpkin that wafted through the school.

A small snore escaped the redhead. "…save some pumpkin pie for me." That actually caused everyone to laugh as Gosaria attempted to wake up the snoozing cat-girl. The task was a difficult one, and the blonde knew it all too well. Leaning down, she whispered into her friend's ear.

"Hurry up, or I'm going to eat all of it." Shock played across her face when she suddenly found herself in a headlock by the redhead.

"Not if I can help it…"

"Lina!" The blonde screamed into the ear of the cat-girl. In an instant, Ranma was awake and in a sitting position. Gosaria was dropped onto the floor and began catching her breath. "Thank goodness…"

"You didn't need to shout in my ear, Gosaria." The redhead complained as she rubbed the aforementioned body part. Her nose suddenly started twitching at the smell she was experiencing in her dream. "The smell wasn't a dream!" A look of utter glee had played onto her face as she hopped out of the bed and onto her feet.

"Of course it's not a dream." Pansy said with a shake of her head. The blue/red eyed girl just didn't seem like Slytherin material, and she was weird beyond belief. She was, however, an interesting person who was full of entertainment. "You didn't forget that the smell is for the Halloween feast that will be during dinner, did you?" She suddenly found a pair of dual-colored eyes just a few inches from her dark eyes.

"Did you say feast?!" That meant a bunch of different kinds of foods, and different from the normal meals. At the slow nod of the black-haired girl, Ranma jumped back. "Yaha! This day is going to be great. I can just imagine all the different Halloween style foods. Hee-hee… nothing can ruin this day!"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was at that very moment that a call was placed to the cell phone of the being known as Murphey. "Hello?" After a few seconds, he responded. "Oh, you mean that Ranma person again." A few more seconds went by. "Hmm… you're right; it HAS been a little while since I've paid the kid a visit. We don't want the child to go soft and forget about us."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The day was progressing smoothly for the redheaded martial artist/sorceress. The odd thing was that she hadn't seen Hermione in the halls or at lunch at all. That kind of worried her a bit, but she figured it was because her own mind was on the thought of the feast, and that she had missed the girl many times because of that.

The only thing of interest that day was Charms class that afternoon. They were learning a fun little spell that could make objects fly. That spell could possibly be pretty dang useful in the future, and maybe she could figure out how to do it without a wand. The redhead had come to think of Flitwick as her favorite teacher for some odd reason. Maybe it had to do with the humor he brought to the class.

When the professor broke them up into partners, Ranma had been placed with some Ravenclaw boy named Terry Boot. Gosaria had been placed with Crabbe, much to the girl's displeasure.

"Now, I want everyone to swish and flick their wands and say _Wingardium Leviosa_." Flitwick also went on to mention about the motion and wording being very important. Otherwise you could end up with a buffalo or something standing on you.

Focusing her mana down to a manageable level, the redhead proceeded to go about doing the charm. She stopped and blinked, though, when everyone seemed to duck behind something. "What the heck's going on?"

"Not to be rude Miss Malfoy" Flitwick began with a slight sweat drop. "But you have a slight way of blowing things up when you try stuff like this. You manage to do the assignment, but you blow things up."

"Gee… thanks for having some faith in me." Shrugging it out of her mind, Ranma began again. "_Wingardium Leviosa_" As soon as the words left her mouth, the feather began to float into the air and hover. There was not even a minor explosion to accompany this.

"Excellent job Miss Malfoy!" The diminutive professor shouted. "Not even a single explosion this time. 10 points to Slytherin."

As it turned out, only two other people in class were able to do the charm. Draco and Gosaria were the only others. Gosaria's feather would only hover a foot, but she managed to do it. Draco's went up a few feet, but fell back down soon after.

After Charms class was over, Ranma found that she had to use the restroom. Making her way to the closest one, the redhead was surprised to hear crying coming from the restroom. She knew it wasn't Myrtle's restroom, and that meant someone else was depressed. The cat-girl was even more shocked to see that it was Hermione who was the one crying.

"Hermione?" There was no answer from the other girl who continued to sob. "Yo Hermione, what's wrong."

Looking up, the bushy-haired girl saw her friend looking at her in worry. "Oh… hi Lina."

"What happened?" A dark thought past through Ranma's mind at the idea of someone making the girl cry like this. She also noticed that Hermione was keeping herself from saying anything. "Hermione, tell me what the problem is. I can not stand here and let you cry." Her blue/red eyes suddenly flashed crimson.

Looking at the cat-girl's eyes, the brown-haired girl caved in. "It was earlier today during Charms. I was showing Ron how to properly do the Wingardium Leviosa, but apparently I came off as snobbish about it. After class, he was talking to Harry about how nobody can stand me… except for one person who's not exactly normal. He went on to say that other than you, I have no _**normal**_ friends." Ranma had to use her Soul of Ice to keep her anger at bay.

"Come on Hermione. Let's go…"

"Can you just let me stay here a little bit longer? You go ahead to the feast." She saw the look in the redhead's eyes. "Please Lina?"

After several moments of staring, Ranma gave in to her friend. "Alright Hermione, you win. Just stay safe and be fine." With that said, the cat-girl marched out of the bathroom and made her way to the Great Hall. Upon entering the doors, her still crimson eyes looked around and spotted Ron just about ready to sit down.

Walking up to the boy, she tapped him on the shoulder. The younger Weasley turned around and gulped, along with everyone else, at the look of those pure crimson eyes. "Wha… what is it, Lina?"

"Hermione's in the bathroom crying because of what you said this morning about her." Blood red orbs seemed to almost drill right through the boy. "I do not appreciate the fact that you made my friend cry because of your immature idiocy. Be thankful that you are just a regular kid; otherwise I'd take you and turn your world into sheer torture for how much you made her cry. Remember that, Weasley."

As Ranma walked away from the table, everyone who heard the icy voice, and stared into those cold and hard eyes, felt a sudden feeling of fear at the thought of just what that girl could do when she was truly pissed off. Ron felt it was almost hard to breath, and decided he would take it upon himself to apologize to Hermione when next he saw her, lest he be the target of the Red Cat of Hogwarts' anger.

Gosaria blinked when she saw her friend set down next to her. The usual blue/red eyes were still deep crimson. "Are you ok Lina?"

"I'm fine." The redhead said to the blonde with a smile. She still had a little pent up frustration, and her eyes were showing it. Her eyes then looked towards all the food that was currently piled onto the table. Many things were kinds that she had never tried before. "There's food here, so I'm fine." The cat-girl was about to dig into the food when the doors to the Great Hall banged open.

"TROLL IN THE DUNGEONS!!" It was the stuttering professor Quirrell who ran into the room. "Thought you ought to know." He then proceeded to drop into a dead faint. With that proclamation, the whole Hall was in an uproar at the event, and it took some magical noise makers from Dumbledore to calm them all down.

"Prefects, lead your houses back to the dormitories immediately!" It was at that time that Ranma shouted out.

"What about the food?!"

"The feast has been canceled Miss Malfoy. There is too much danger to…" The ancient wizard's eyes, along with everyone else in the place, widened as an incredible fiery aura appeared around the redhead. The aforementioned girl then slammed the fork and knife she was holding into the table before standing up.

"_**THAT DAMN TROLL WILL DIE!!**_" She was about ready to dig into a grand feast, but some damn smelly creature had deprived her of that pleasure. The thing would face its fate at her hands. Before she could take a step, Dumbledore was right by her side with a hand on her shoulder. He held her back as everyone started to spill out of the room. "Let me go Dumbledore. The troll needs to pay."

"Please calm down and go rest in the dorms, Lina." The bearded wizard knew that the redhead could probably take care of herself, and that she could possibly be of some help, but he didn't want her to let her anger control her in this decision. A silent curse escaped him as the girl phased through the floor. 'It looks like Washu will be getting a message about this.'

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

'Where's that damn troll at?' Ranma thought to herself as she appeared in a part of the dungeon. She knew she shouldn't have done that, but her temper got the better of her. 'What's… that smell?' Sniffing the air, the cat-girl could smell something… rank. 'Must be the troll… talk about smelly.' Moving her head around, she pinpointed the direction that the smell was stronger in. 'At least my sense of smell is good for something.'

Following the scent, the redhead had to dodge rows of students who were headed towards their houses. Her sense of smell began to lead her up to the third floor of the school. The sudden realization of it being on the third floor made her freeze. Hermione was in the bathroom on this floor. If the troll was indeed on this floor, then the girl was in grave danger.

Abandoning the smell trail, Ranma took off towards the girls' restroom. Fear gripped her when she could sense that the smell was getting stronger. 'Please don't let Hermione be hurt… or worse!' Picking up speed, she found herself at the girls' restroom. Peeking in, her eyes widened at the sight.

Harry and Ron were in there trying to protect the bushy-haired girl from the huge beast. They weren't doing any good until the Weasley actually used the Wingardium on the club of the troll. The club rose into the air, and then it was dropped onto the head of the creature.

The troll was seeing stars as it lost its balance and fell to its hands and knees. Ranma saw the thing trying to struggle with not falling into unconsciousness. Narrowing her crimson eyes, the cat-girl walked towards the troll and stopped right in front of it. "I'm glad you two got here in time." She said to the two boys. "When I found the smell of this thing leading up here, I was afraid that something happened to Hermione."

The mountain of a creature's unfocused eyes looked up towards the red orbs of an 11-year-old girl and froze. Its people had spoke of a legend regarding a redheaded girl with glowing crimson eyes and an aura of power. She was said to be so fierce that she could spook a dragon. He had thought it was just a fairy tale, but this girl seemed to be just that.

With fear in his eyes, the troll tried to move and get away, but a hand on its head stopped it in its movement. "You prevented me from my meal and almost hurt a friend. Those are two things that can not be looked the other way at." With a cry of 'mono volt' the monster gave out a shout of pain before falling unconscious.

Eyes turning back to their normal blue/red, Ranma shook her head of the feeling she had and looked sheepishly at what she did. "At least it's just unconscious." The wide-eyed looks on the other three in the room made her blush a bit. Their attention was then turned towards the entrance to the restroom. Snape, McGonagall, Quirrell, and Dumbledore were staring at the scene before them. 'Dumbledore's probably here because of how I just took off.' The redhead thought with a frown.

The conversation that followed was an interesting one. Hermione lied that she had wanted to fight the troll on her own, and Harry and Ron had come to rescue her from the stupid thing she had tried to do. Ranma, meanwhile, mentioned that the original intent of her leaving was to get at the troll, but when she found out that it was headed to where Hermione was, then the only thought she had was saving the girl.

Hermione had lost five points for Gryffindor, Harry and Ron gained 10, and Ranma's fate was a little odd. McGonagall had taken away 10 points from Slytherin for the reckless thing she had done. Snape, however, added the 10 points back for the deed of helping against a troll. The redhead had surmised that the guy just didn't want to lose any points if he could help it.

Something odd in Quirrell's aura spoke of disappointment, but why would the guy be disappointed? Unless he was the one who unleashed the troll. That wouldn't make sense though, because he acted like he was scared to death and collapsed in the Great Hall. It was then that the redhead remembered a quote from that ninja anime. 'Look underneath the underneath'.

Her concentration was suddenly cut short when Dumbledore spoke up. "Lina, I'm afraid we'll have to send a message to Washu regarding this little incident." The aged wizard then began to walk away, leaving a pale redhead behind.

"Hey wait! We don't need to do that! Headmaster Dumbledore!!!!" She then began to chase after the old man, in hopes that she could prevent having Washu find out. This left three Gryffindors, who were just beginning to build a friendship, to watch after the girl in confusion.

xxA.Nxx

Wow, this was my longest chapter yet. For some reason, this fanfic seems to turn out longer in length than my other series, and I don't know why. I usually try to get around 55KB and up on each chapter. This chapter ended up breaking the 100KB mark. Now that's something.

This chapter was incredibly fun to do, and now the next chapter needs a little thinking. How's that for a mini cliffhanger? Ranma facing the loss of all of her abilities for a week or so because of that little action there.

If Ranma ever did find the Mirror of Erised, what could be something she'd see? _**Besides the most obvious**_?


	11. Quintinsy Slips up

Wild Magic

Ranma 1/2, Slayers, and any other series used in this fanfic are owned by their respective creators/publishers/whatever

Thanks to CyberSkaarj for pre-reading

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Chapter 11

The next day marked the start of the month of November, and the temperature began to reflect the changing weather almost all at once. The dungeons had become even colder than they normally were, and from looking outside the magically created windows of the Slytherin House, one could see frost covering the grass. This along with the trees almost fully bare of leaves just screamed 'cold as the underbelly of a penguin that had been sliding on the ice'.

Ranma had no interest in all this at all. Sure she had felt the need to dress warmer because of the sudden cold snap, but she had other thoughts on her mind as she was walking towards the Great Hall with Nashigi and Gosaria. The small jewel in the middle of the choker she had around her neck had a faint glow around it.

"So you have no access to anything?" The blonde girl asked with wide eyes after what her friend had said.

"This choker is currently restricting me to that of a normal 11-year-old witch. I have enough magic to use a wand, and I still have a little more ki than normal, but I'm restricted. I can't use my normal magic easily, phase through objects, teleport, fly, my strength and speed are dampened, and all my other special abilities are locked off. My cat senses have been left untouched, so I still have my stealth and other similar things. I'm just… weakened by a hell of a lot." The redhead supplied back.

Dumbledore had indeed sent a message to Washu about what had transpired during the Halloween fiasco. As much as Washu understood in the fact that Ranma had attempted to save Hermione when she found out, and the fact that the troll had gotten in the way of food, the 11-year-old had still let her anger get the best of her. There was also the fact that she had fully disobeyed an order from Dumbledore to not do anything.

Unlike most of the other times in which the martial artist/sorceress's abilities were stripped away, the intergalactic scientist was well aware of how much that would place a damper on Ranma's studies, and they could not have that. This was why she now had enough magic to use a wand, and enough ki to do a few other things.

Nashigi gave a small smile "Well Lina, it was slightly your fault for going off the deep end. I mean really, you're as short tempered as you are shortGAH!" The dark-haired witch's face had suddenly found itself kissing ground due to a fist to the back of the head. "Owie… you're so mean Lina." She said as she rubbed the back of her head.

"She does kind of have a point, Lina." Gosaria commented with an innocent face. "Maybe you should try and get a little anger management… eep!" The blonde suddenly found herself in a minor headlock. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She screamed frantically.

A voice made itself known from behind them. "Well isn't that a sweet little tidbit of information." The three turned around to see Quintinsy standing there with his arms crossed, and there was a smug expression on his face.

Ranma glanced towards Gosaria. "You know what; I was really hoping your pompous brother would get a clue. I really hate thick-headed, pompous, and idiotic people like him."

"That's such an attitude for one who has hardly any of her freakish abilities at the moment." The dark blonde-haired boy said as he began poking the redhead in the nose with his finger. His world came into pain when the aforementioned redhead opened her mouth and chomped down on his finger. "Eeeeee….." was all he could manage without screaming.

Looking down at his finger, he noticed how red and bruised it was. "You damn cat bitch." He simply said as he began to walk off. "I'll remember this injustice the next time we meet." Quintinsy then started to walk off to get to the hospital wing for some bandages.

"I can't believe I did that." Ranma commented with a frown. Nashigi placed a hand on the shorter girl's shoulder.

"Doesn't an angry and weakened cat scratch and bite back?"

Moving the hair out of her eyes, the blue/red eyed cat-girl responded. "Great, now I know a few other things that put me in a similar boat to a cat." Before long she'd probably want to be scratched behind her ear or something. A frown came to her when Gosaria giggled.

"By the way Lina" Nashigi began. "I had another odd dream about me as that Naga woman last night." At the smaller girl's questioning look, she continued. "I dreamt about a giant golden-colored tortoise thingie fighting a giant rock golem. In the middle of the battle, they found love with each other."

"…" The whole thing just sounded completely off the wall.

"Another oddity is that Naga looks a lot like me, but older and more skimpily dressed. Her companion was also named Lina Inverse, and looked a lot like you." The dark and blonde haired girls missed the slight twitch in Ranma's eye. "Inverse was older, but she was still short and flat-chested with and incredibly short tempERK!" She found herself in a headlock.

"You _**DO NOT**_ want to finish that sentence, Nashigi." The redhead didn't understand why this girl could sometimes bring out the worst in her, nor did she understand how Lina Inverse's short temper was able to filter to her. The fact of it all was… she had considered Akane to have an incredibly short temper, but her's was even worse. It must be some form of punishment or something.

Gosaria was trying her best to calm the two down, but she had made no progress as a sweat-drop appeared on her head. "I don't think you three should be fighting." All three heads turned to see Hermione, Harry, and Ron standing there and blinking at their act.

Nashigi got out of the headlock. "No worries at all Hermione. It's just a little squabble between friends, ohohohohohohoooKYA!" A fist found its way in the back of her head again.

"Seriously, can you please just cut it out?" The redheaded girl asked in annoyance, actually voicing the opinion of many students who were walking by. She then turned to the three newly arrived Gryffindors. "You three seemed to be able to tolerate each other now."

When the bushy-haired girl mentioned that after they helped each other take down that troll, they hadn't seen a reason why they couldn't be friends. Gosaria gave an elbow to the cat-girl and smiled. "It's as you said earlier last month, Lina. They probably wouldn't become friends unless there was some strange life threatening event that would make them see eye-to-eye." Everyone looked at each other before letting loose a sweat-drop all at once.

"Has everything in life become so predictable?" Ranma asked with a sigh as they all entered the Great Hall and went to their respective tables. As Ranma sat down in the seat, she began to eat at a slow, for her, pace. Without most of her speed and strength, she was forced to eat at a normal speed. Her two friends also decided to eat at a normal speed since.

"Hey Lina" Nashigi began with a slight smile. "I learned something interesting when I woke up last night in the dead of the night."

"What's that?" The redhead asked as she continued to eat. She watched as the dark-haired girl held her hands out, palm up. A few seconds later, a bit of blue energy had begun to appear in her hands. Upon seeing this, Ranma began to choke on her food. "Ly Briem" She managed to get out before clearing her throat. Everyone else around the table stared in shock at what the girl just did.

"Ly Briem?" The older girl asked with slight confusion before the energy in her hand disappeared.

The cat-girl took a large drink of water before continuing. "It's a magic spell which encases the target in ice. It… looks like you can learn how to do wandless magic as well, Nashigi." That declaration caused a bunch of wide eyes to look between the two.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" The big chested girl asked out loud, causing people to look their way from other tables. "I can do wandless magic? I told you I'd become your greatest rival, Lina. OOOHOHOHOHOHOHOOO!!"

"Great, I was really hoping she wouldn't remember and be able to do magic." Ranma's mind drifted off to the dream memories she had many times about Naga. "Can't I ever have just a normal life?" The redhead commented to herself as her head lay against the table.

"But you know, I would need a little teaching on how to make it work. It wouldn't be too much trouble if you could help me when you get your abilities back, would it?" The dark-haired girl asked with big eyes as she leaned close to her so called rival.

"Yeah, yeah" The cat-girl simply said with a wave of her hand. Who knows, maybe it would pass a little time and be interesting.

It was at that moment that the mail had started to arrive, and Washu's 'owl' dropped a small package in front of the redhead. Blinking in curiosity, Ranma took the letter that was attached to it and started to read. It was from Nodoka.

_Dear Ranma_

_I hope not having all of your abilities isn't annoying you too much. Sakura and I went on a little trip out of town and found a store that was selling such an interesting little doll. The store owner said there was a legend behind it. Long, long ago, a sorceress helped an old man in building a large golem, and this event inspired the man to make several dolls based off that large creation. The dolls are scattered around the world and have been around for over 1,500 years. There were only two left at the odd little shop, and so I got one for you, and another for Sakura. I hope you love yours._

_With Love_

_Nodoka_

A frown appeared on Ranma's face as she began opening the package that had come. 'What the hell would I want with some little doll?' She asked her self as she reached in pulled out… "What in the nine hells!" The doll looked almost exactly like a mini her. It was a cute little chubby thing with a yellow shirt, dark red cape, red pants, yellow sphere earrings, blue shoes, and black gloves. The thing also had long red hair and round red eyes with cute little round blush circles on the cheeks, and there was a small wide open and cute smile.

"Hmm?" Gosaria asked as she, and several others at the table, leaned closer. "It looks exactly like you, Lina." There was a small note attached to the leg. "What's this? Hmm… interesting."

"Well, what's it say?" Pansy asked curiously. The thing was so damn cute, and its likeness to Lina was scary.

"Huh? Oh, I don't know what it says. I can't read Japanese." A mass face-fault occurred before Ranma snatched the doll back and began to read it. A twitch formed in her eye.

"A genuine golem doll created by the great golem maker, Galia, a little over 1,500 years ago. Galia's inspiration for the doll had come from the great Bandit Killer, Dragon Spooker, Short and Flat Chested, Enemy of All Who Live, and Adorable Lina Inverse." Everyone was completely silent as it all had begun to sink in as they stared at the redhead. Some of the Slytherins began to whisper amongst their selves, and then that whispering reached the other tables, and before long the whispering was all throughout the Great Hall.

At that moment, the small golem doll had begun to waddle around in circles around the table. The small note was still being held in the redhead's hand. The aforementioned redheaded looked from the note to the doll before saying one thing. "Ah screw it." Apparently Nodoka's heart was in the right place, but the results were not.

Deciding to end her breakfast early, the redhead decided to take the small thing down to the dorms and deposit the thing with Laira. She was sure that the little thing would have more fun with it than she would… considerably. "Jeez it's freezing around here. Just how the hell could the temperature change so quickly?" She asked her self as she entered through the passage to the Slytherin house. It took a few seconds for her to remember the password, since she usually just phased through the thing. She had found the small cabbit just lounging around in one of the chairs.

"It looks so much like you, momma." Laira announced as soon as she had caught sight of the small doll waddling around. Ranma had decided to take it down to the dorms and see if the small cabbit would like it. "That means you must truly be Lina Inverse's reincarnation, a little on the short and flat side."

The cat-girl gave a sigh and cursed that very past life and ancestor. Just how many times will this crap be brought up in one lifetime? At least the only people who really even have guessed and all were the students here at Hogwarts. It wasn't like there'd be some major event that would ever involve her… spooking a rampaging dragon that had somehow made its way to Hogwarts during a time when vast amounts of people were present, and then some nosy busybody would somehow catch it on a picture and post it in a wizarding newspaper. That could never happen… could it?

Tossing the thought out of her mind, she proceeded to make her way towards her classes for the day.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"DAMN YOU PEEVES!" Ranma shouted as she ran from the blasted poltergeist. It was the next day, and apparently Quintinsy let loose about her current disadvantage with her abilities. As with most news in the blasted school, word had gotten around fast. Students whispered a little about it in the halls, but the majority didn't really care too much. Peeves, on the other hand, found it the juiciest of information.

The trickster apparition couldn't resist a chance to get back at a weakened Ranma. He had constantly felt fear towards the girl. The Bloody Baron only made him nervous and reluctant, but the cat-girl sent shivers up his spiritual body. Many times he would start teasing a student, only to have the redhead literally pop out of the shadows, walls, floors, ceilings, and other places and give a nice threat to him.

So here he was now, chasing the young girl through the school. It was just so much fun being able to do this without any real worry. Of course, there was the chance that she'd try and get back at him once her abilities came back, but the punishment would be completely worth it.

Well, he _**HAD BEEN**_ chasing her, but now he lost sight of the girl in some way that he couldn't understand. "Well that's no good. Ah well, there's always next time." With a sinister laugh, he vanished from the area to other parts of the castle. His eyes didn't catch the ones that were peeking out from a door that had been cracked open.

"Stupid bastard" Ranma said in annoyance after watching Peeves leave the area. "I didn't think I'd ever have this much trouble. Ah well, it could be worse. I could have to live through that damn weakness point again."

"I apologize for all this, Ranma." A voice announced from behind the cat-girl. Turning around, her blue/red eyes spotted Dumbledore standing in front of a large mirror. The guy had apparently decided to call her by the name she was more comfortable with. "If I had known that this would be the punishment from Washu, I never would have contacted her about it. The whole thing seems pretty cruel in my mind."

The redhead waved it off. "Eh, it's no big deal. I've been through worse restrictions before."

"None-the-less, please remind me to have a talk with Washu about this. I believe it would be better if the school was the one to decide what to do for when you act out." His old eyes saw the shocked look on the girl's face. "I'm not a cruel man, Ranma. As much as I can see how this punishment probably works for when you are living with her, it does not while you are here."

"Yeah, that's true, old fart. Don't worry about telling her until the end of the week. I'm looking at this as a sort of challenge." She said before something else piqued her interest. "Hey Dumbledore, what's with that mirror?" The cat-girl began to walk up to it.

"This, Ranma, is the Mirror of Erised. Also known as the Mirror of Desire. When one looks into the mirror, they can see their heart's desire. The desire that is reflected deep within their heart."

"Really, so what do you see in the mirror?" Did she really want to face another magic mirror? She had enough trouble with them in the past.

"I see myself with a new pair of socks." His eyes twinkled at the look in the redhead's eyes. "One could never have enough socks. Why don't you take a look for yourself and see the desire that is deep within your heart?"

"Nah" Ranma said with a wave of her hand. "I already know it will most likely be me as a boy."

"Are you sure?" Dumbledore asked with a bit of amusement. "Being a boy again might just be one of the more common desires within you. You aren't… scared of what you might see, are you?"

"I'm not scared of anything." The redhead announced as she stepped in front of the mirror to check out her heart's desire. What she saw inside the mirror made her blink several times in a row. "The… hell?"

"What is it that you see, Ranma?" The elderly wizard asked curiously. It must be something she really wasn't expecting.

"I… see myself sleeping while being surrounded by yarn balls and gold. There's a table that's piled high of food… lots and lots and lots of food. Nashigi is dressed as a maid with her mouth taped shut while serving the food. Happosai, Xellos, and Quintinsy are hanging from the ceiling by their ankles while magical objects pummel them in the head… hard. Gosaria is calmly sitting next to me and scratching me behind the ear as I purr. I… also seem to be a little taller with a slightly bigger chest." That was her deepest desire? What the hell?

"Ranma"

"Yeah, Dumbledore?"

"I think that maybe you should not look in this mirror again."

"I think I agree as well." She did not know what kind of desires her heart could think up next. Before she could even move away from the mirror, the image within the mirror changed to something else. "Oh hey… it's changing."

The bearded wizard was almost too reluctant to ask, but did it anyway. "What do you see this time, Ranma?"

"I… see myself swinging a large mallet at a bunch of slugs, and I'm squishing them flat. HA-HA! Take that you bastards!" She noticed the odd look in Dumbledore's eyes as he looked at her. Blushing a bit, she began to scratch the back of her head. "I'm not exactly sure why yet, in that I've only had vague memories so far, but the older Inverse sister used those… things in her punishments a few times. All I know is that I now hate slugs, and I'm starting to get nervous around them." A full shiver had begun to run up her spine.

"Was the older Inverse really that bad?"

"Let's just say that the relationship between the two sisters wasn't all that affectionate, and the worst started after Lina set up a device that projected an image of her sister bathing. I'm fuzzy on the details, but the name Luna now fills me with a large sense of dread, and I'm not too fond of slugs." A smirk came to her face. "It's nothing I can't handle though."

"As you say, Ranma." Dumbledore said with a small smile. One the inside, he decided to watch the girl closely for any problems. Gaining possible traumatic memories from a past life would likely _**NOT**_ be a good thing.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"How the hell did it get so cold so fast?" Ranma complained as she stood next to a tree. She actually had to wrap herself in a winter cloak, green and silver scarf, and some warm gloves. On her head was her beanie hat that was used to cover her ears. "The weather in this place really sucks."

The cold weather aside, it was pretty nice to just be outside and feel a little bit of freedom. Being cooped up inside and trapped in classes had finally got to her, and she had to get outside before she snapped or something. One step outside, though, and she almost froze. Usually her ki and magic, which she built up to warm her in the cold, would help her with this. That wasn't the case this week though.

There was something she actually was looking forward to this week. Quidditch season had apparently started, and this Saturday would be the first game. The cat-girl was actually looking forward to watching a game and seeing exactly what it was like. From descriptions from other people, the sport had sounded like some odd cross between soccer, American football, basketball, and some other smaller things. The only difference was that it all took place in the air on brooms.

Reading up on it made her go on to wonder just what the creators of it were thinking. The game would automatically end when somebody caught the little flying ball thing. Then the bludgers that would smash into other players. It all sounded completely insane.

Ah well, maybe it would prove an interesting event to watch. The cat-girl had learned that Harry, after that event during flying lessons, had become a member on the team, and the youngest ever at that. It seemed he was getting completely nervous about the whole thing as the first game drew closer and closer.

"He's worrying over nothing. It's not like his broom will try and knock him off." Ranma's eyes widened as she clamped the scarf over her mouth. She didn't just say that, did she? 'Please don't tell me that any deities heard that. I have _**GOT**_ to learn to keep my damn mouth shut.' Looking around nervously, she sighed before relaxing again.

She suddenly found a wand pressed between her eyes. "You know, we've really got to stop meeting like this, cat bitch." Quintinsy said smugly from his spot in front of her. The redhead wondered how the guy had managed to sneak up on her. After a few seconds, she found the reason. Ears covered by a thick furry hat, nose covered by a thick scarf, and a slight wind blowing what she would have smelled away from her.

"This scene does seem familiar, doesn't it windbag?" Some serious déjà vu was making itself present here.

"Indeed it does, but this time you lack any abilities to do anything." The dark-haired boy was slightly put unnerved when the blue/red orbs he stared in turned crimson. "Eyes alone won't be able to save you, and I don't see your wand close to you. It looks like I win this time." A manic grin appeared. "Are you scared?"

"You try and plan all this mocking, but you always have one major flaw each time." Ranma stated with eyes glowing.

Quintinsy gave a chuckle "What would be a major flaw this tiIIII…" His voice suddenly went high pitched when he found that a foot had found itself connected to where the sun doesn't normally shine. Removing her foot, the cat-girl's eyes turned back to normal. Looking at what she did, her face winced a bit.

"Uh… sorry about that. I wasn't fully in control of myself. Hahahaha…" She couldn't believe she did that little dirty deed. Mentally yelling at herself for doing it, she watched as the boy got back to his feet shakily.

"You are lower than I thought you were." He said with a little panting. Pointing his wand back between his foe's eyes, he began to speak again. "Allow me to show you what my anonymous benefactor has shown me." Ranma's eyes widened when he began to speak. "Avada…"

"Freeze Arrow!!" A large blue arrow of ice magic flew quickly and hit Quintinsy in the arm, instantly freezing the appendage before he could do anything.

"What in the hellOW!" The tall boy had begun to be pelted by his younger sister who happened to be swinging a large tree branch like a sword. "What the hell are you doing Gosaria? Ouch!" He had suddenly found his face being scratched by the claws of Laira. "GAH!"

Ranma stared blankly as the slightly crazy boy began to run around with one arm encased in ice, a cabbit clawing his face, and his sister chasing after him while swinging a tree branch as if it were a sword. "Ooohohohohohooo!" The redhead cringed at the laugh of her somewhat friend and rival. "You thought you could sneak out of here and get your revenge on Lina with such a terrible curse. You didn't expect that I, Nashigi the Serpent, would spot you. You were a fool. Ooohohohohohooo!"

"Uh… thanks Nashigi." The cat-girl commented with a half-lidded stare. Her eyes then traveled to Laira floating in front of her face. "I take it you were able to feel some danger brewing through our connection and managed to bring Nashigi and Gosaria?"

"Of course momma." Laira said happily. "I do wish I could transform into spaceship form and scare him a little though. It would be fun."

"That… would cause more problems than we need." Ranma stated with a sweat-drop. Her blue/red eyes then looked towards the older girl. "I see you managed to learn a spell."

"Of course I did. Do you think that your most powerful rival would let herself not learn such a thing?" It was stated in a matter of fact voice. "Anyway, I can't believe that idiot would try and use that spell." The dark-haired girl commented as she watched Gosaria continue to chase Quintinsy with a stick.

"He said that he learned it from some anonymous benefactor that has been showing him a few things." There was only one person she knew who used such a spell, and the thought did not sit well with her.

"What's going on here?" They all turned around to see Snape walking towards them with a limp. In his hands was a book. The greasy-haired professor took one look at Quintinsy and saw the arm encased in ice, and the stick in Gosaria's hand. "Just what has been going on here, Miss Malfoy?" He asked in a soft voice. "I heard you should be able to…"

"Nashigi's the one who cast the spell. She did it to stop him from casting a spell he tried to cast on me. Gosaria started hitting him with a stick for trying to do it, and Laira scratched him." Ranma stated as she looked right at the tall man.

"I see, and what kind of spell was it that he tried to cast?"

It was then that Laira spoke up in the cat-girl's arms. "It was some spell that started with the words Avada." If it was possible, the pale professor's skin became even paler.

"Are… you sure?"

"He was standing right in front of me, his wand was pressed between my eyes, he had an evil grin, and he began to say the exact spell you're thinking." The redhead answered with a snarl. The bastard had actually tried to kill her with that very spell. Her blue/red eyes watched as the Potions master walked up to Quintinsy, grabbed him by his cloak, and began to drag him away.

"You three, come with me." Snape snarled out.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The head of Slytherin had begun to lead them through the castle. There were some odd looks from passing students who noticed that the older Ravenclaw student's arm was coated in ice. Looks were turned towards Ranma, who merely pointed towards the taller girl next to her.

It wasn't long until they reached an empty classroom. Snape commanded them all to wait until he came back. Everything was silent, except for the shivering from Quintinsy because of his arm being frozen. It wasn't too long before the greasy-haired professor came back with Dumbledore.

The aged wizard had a look on his face that said he wasn't too happy at all. Walking up to the four students, he looked towards the redhead. "Would you mind telling me what happened, Lina?"

"Of course I'll tell you. He" Ranma pointed towards the tall boy "was trying to kill me. I was standing next to a tree outside and lost in my thoughts. The genius over there got the jump on me and pressed his wand between my eyes. He threatened me and was about to cast a spell, I kicked him between the legs, he got angry, and he then finally attempted to kill me with the Avada Kedavra. It was lucky that Laira could sense the danger and managed to get Nashigi and Gosaria. Nashigi then cast a freeze arrow on his wand arm, and Gosaria began to attack him with a branch."

Dumbledore observed her for a few seconds before nodding. "Thank you for your explanation, Lina." His aged eyes then looked towards the seventh year boy. "What do you have to say for yourself, Mr. Negia?"

"Well Headmaster" Quintinsy began with as much innocence as he could muster. "I did confront Lina outside near the tree, but I wasn't hostile or anything. We were talking a bit, and I accidentally angered her enough for her to kick me in the groin. You know how ill tempered and violent she could beOW!" A fist was in the back of his head.

"Now Miss Malfoy, we must let him finish what he was saying." The headmaster said calmly. He nodded when the redhead sat back down. "Please continue, Mr. Negia."

"Thank you Headmaster Dumbledore." The boy said with all the respect and innocence he could muster. "I, of course, got angry over that little incident. I also was going to cast a spell, but not the Avada. I was going to cast the Aguamenti. I only got out 'Agua' before Nashigi attacked me with magic; my dear sister started swinging a branch around, and Lina's animal was scratching me in the face. I am clearly a victim of circumstance, Headmaster Dumbledore." Ranma gave out a loud 'feh' at the last part.

Dumbledore stroked his beard as he had begun walking around the room. "Let's see, we have two different but similar stories from two different people who were in the same place at the same time of this event."

"Headmaster" Quintinsy began "I have been a helpful student these past seven years. I have provided new students with help when they needed it. I have upheld the rules to a 'T'. I have never crossed the line. I am nowhere near capable of trying to kill a student than say… Lina is able to spook a Hungarian Horntail with just a name and look." He received a strong glare from the redhead next to him.

"I see" The headmaster of Hogwarts simply stated as he glanced between the boy and girl for several moments before turning to Snape. "Severus, let us to outside the room and discuss this." Nodding, the potion's master followed the older wizard outside and shut the door, leaving the four students and a cabbit to sit there. Ranma could have sworn the two professors were trying to probe her mind or something.

The dark-haired boy sent a glance and smirk towards the three girls and the cabbit. "Do you really think that they would trust the word of some little cat bitch who has had a history of being short tempered and violent over a boy like me who's record has been spotless?" The smirk became evil as his face leaned to just a few inches away from Ranma's. "You lose, cat bitch. You three Slytherins are going to be in mountains of trouble. I told you Gosaria. Being in Slytherin will be your downfall."

"Yeah, yeah" The cat-girl said with a dismissal of her hand. "Do you really think the old guy is that blind and ignorant to fall for such a speech as yours? If so, then you are even more pompous and delusional than I thought." She suddenly found a hand clasped around her throat.

"Why you little…" He said as he glared at her. Nashigi and Gosaria jumped up, and Laira was about to jump at the boy. The dark-haired boy had to release the grip when the door began to open back up, but he didn't miss the glare from Ranma that promised pain.

Dumbledore stepped through the door and addressed the four students. "I have come to my decision." His old eyes looked towards the boy with dark blonde hair. "Quintinsy"

"Yes Dumbledore?" The boy asked as calmly as he could. There was no possible way that the old man could find any fault with him. It was nearly impossible, what with the redhead's track record.

"The ministry and your parents will be notified of your attempt upon a student's life, and your punishment will be in the hands of them." He saw the shocked look on the boy's face.

"Wha… what are you talking about, Headmaster? I couldn't…"

"I'm afraid that you are quite capable of it, Mr. Negia. You may not know it, but both Professor Snape and I are very skilled at Legilimency." Quintinsy's voice became completely pale. He knew that that meant… "He and I assessed the situation and discussed it. We both came to the same conclusion. I am very disappointed in you, Mr. Negia. You were a great student at this school."

The tall boy was at a complete loss. His vision then took on a look of fury as he stared at Ranma. "You bitch!" He tried to send a punch towards the redhead, but it was caught by the aforementioned redhead before she sent her own punch that caught him in the face.

"I may have been weakened, but I'm not fully helpless you pompous jackass." She simply stated before giving a slight wince. She shouldn't have used that much force, now her hand was hurting. Her blue/red eyes then looked towards the headmaster. She had actually gained a little more respect for the old fart. "Thanks Dumbledore. By the way, what is this Legilimency stuff?"

"You could consider it as a form of mind reading. A legilimens would be able to read some emotions, memories, and images from somebody's mind."

"Hey, I think that's what I felt a few moments ago, and last month when Snape tried the same thing in potion's class. I was able to force him out though." She saw the contemplative look in the elder wizard's eyes.

"I think you might be a partial occlumens, Miss Malfoy." At her questioning look, he continued. "While Legilimency is used to see into the mind, Occlumency is used to protect the mind from intrusion."

"Well now I finally know what it all was." Her eyes then looked around a bit. "Um… could we leave now?"

"I don't see why not, but I do want to tell you something before you go, Lina." When he had her attention, he went on. "Could you try and do some meditations and attempt to get control of your temper? I can understand if you still have a short temper, but you need to try and rein it in at least some. If I didn't know your personality, and if I wasn't a user of Legilimency, I probably would have believed Quintinsy."

A frown came to Ranma's face. The guy did have a point in asking that. "I will try and do it, old fart. I'll try."

A smile came to the aged wizard's face. "That's all I ask, Lina, that's all I ask."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was later that night when she had decided to try and give meditation a try. Sitting cross-legged on her bed, she closed her eyes and calmed herself. She began to think back to some of the meditating exercises she had attempted to learn when she was on the road with Genma a long time ago. 'Calm yourself and find your center' was what an elderly monk had said.

Gaining control of her breathing, she began to do just that. It was difficult and had taken a while, but she finally reached her goal. It wasn't long before she was actually searching through her mind. It almost seemed like a hallway with several doors, and all of them were open.

Moving down the hallway, she peeked into each of the open doors. It was an odd experience to say the least. One room actually held the fear aspect of her mind. The little figment was shivering by itself in a large stone room, and every little thing seemed to frighten it.

Another room held in it the anger aspect of her mind. The room looked like an absolute war zone. Debris, craters in the ground, explosions, and all that good stuff. The figment living in the room was screaming at the top of her lungs as she began smashing things with a mallet. 'That's… scary.' Ranma thought as she backed out slowly.

Many other rooms held many other emotions, and it was very odd to see something made of just one emotion doing whatever it was doing. Emotions weren't the only things in the doors though. There were also other aspects of her psyche. She had found the martial arts part of it, and had seen that a male clone of her previous life was a part of that room.

One part of her mind that made her blink several times over was the feminine traits area. She had no idea there was such a thing in her mind. There was, however, a room right across the hall from it that held the masculine traits area. Both parts freaked the redhead out a bit. The one that ruled the masculine area was an overly muscled Ranma clone, while the one who ruled the feminine area was the exact opposite, and was a Ranma-chan clone. Both of them seemed to get into slight arguments a lot, screaming across the hall at each other.

The cat-girl finally found herself at the end of the hallway. The door was huge and seemed to be made of oak. It also seemed to be slightly cracked open. A sign on the side had the words 'Memories' written on it.

Curiosity getting the better of her, Ranma began to try and open the door. The large wooden door seemed like it didn't want to budge, and the blue/red eyed girl only managed to move it an inch. It was enough to actually assault her mind with a few more memories of long past.

A couple of the memories involved adventures and travels of Lina Inverse. The rest of the dreams, however, included a little more light onto why the younger Inverse found Luna to be the most evil thing in existence.

"GAH!" Ranma screamed out as she found herself back in the real world on her hands and knees on the bed. Beads of sweat were rolling down her face at the memory she just had. 'That is just nuts.'

It seemed that right after the incident of Lina revealing the image of Luna bathing, the older Inverse had decided that a more… exotic punishment was needed. The punishment involved the use of slugs, and some slugs that Luna had managed to use magic on to grow them to large sizes.

What had happened was that the young Lina had been stripped to just her underwear, had her feet tied together, a gag put around her mouth, and her hands were tied behind her back. Luna had then proceeded to keep her in a small secluded place with countless numbers of slugs of different shapes and sizes for two complete days straight.

Now she knew why, and she wished she didn't. She could almost feel the sliminess of the slugs. It was at that moment in which Laira charged into the room and slammed into the redhead. Small tears were streaming from her eyes. "What's wrong, Laira?" Ranma still had trouble at times with caring for the cabbit when the little thing was emotional, but she still had a weakness for when things cried.

The small creature's big eyes looked up to her. "I had a bad dream that I didn't make it in time, and you ended up getting killed, momma." The scarlet furred cabbit began to cry again.

"Aw come on, Laira. You know I'm made of better stuff than that. I wouldn't get killed easily by some pompous idiot like that. You have absolutely nothing to worry about. After-all, I am the best." She couldn't help but add that last part. No matter what, Ranma still had some cockiness that showed from time to time.

Laira's lavender eyes looked up at her. "You sure?" At the reassuring smile and nod, the cabbit made a small squeal of joy and pushed her strength into the cat-girl, sending her onto her back on the bed. "Could I… just sleep with you tonight, momma?"

After a series of blinks, the blue/red-eyed martial artist/sorceress gave another smile and nod. "Hey, who am I to stop you?" Laira voiced her thanks and began to drift off to sleep. Ranma, on the other hand, kept on wondering just how the hell she managed to become a mother to some small rabbit/cat hybrid that could talk, had childish behavior, and could turn into a space ship that currently had trouble staying in the sky. 'Oh right, Washu. I still think I'm too damn young to be a parent, much less a dang mother. I could wonder just what god is in charge of my life.' Her eyes then drifted to the calm and sleeping cabbit on her chest that had a small smile on her face.

'Then again, who am I to try and go against it?' She thought to herself simply as she drifted off to sleep herself, with a hand resting on Laira's back.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The rest of the week had actually moved by pretty quickly. Everyone had been slightly curious as to what happened to the resident lunatic of Ravenclaw. Dumbledore had mentioned to everyone that the boy had to leave due to trying to harm another student. The headmaster didn't want to outright lie to everyone, because they did need to know why one of their own wasn't there anymore. He just didn't tell the whole truth.

Everyone had figured that the person Quintinsy tried to harm was Ranma. There was nobody else at the school that the boy seemed to have a grudge against. It was decided all around that the guy was kind of a sicko for trying to harm a severely weakened young witch. That thought kind of annoyed the cat-girl a bit in a way.

Saturday was a joyous time for the redhead herself. Washu had finally turned off the limiter choker, and her powers had finally come back. She had celebrated this little event by flying and phasing through almost the entire school. Curiously, she found a few secret passages that she would rather forget. One of them was right below Fluffy, and the other was beneath the Slytherin house.

The area she found under the Slytherin dorms was large and spacious with puddles of water. It would have made a great place to practice her martial arts and sorcery if it wasn't for the unknown creature that was sleeping behind the snake statue head. She did not want to poke her nose in there at the moment and find out exactly what it was.

The area under Fluffy consisted of a bunch of different rooms, and there was nothing at the end of it all. It was kind of boring to say the least, and not worth her time at all.

She had also ended up getting a few points taken away because she had actually flew through the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff dorms at quick speeds. The redhead was also told to never do that again. The houses are hidden for a reason, and nobody from other houses should enter. She thought it was kind of stupid in a way, but decided to respect it. Besides, the looks on everyone's faces that saw her pop out of the walls, floors, or ceilings while doing it was priceless.

Dumbledore and Washu had actually reached an agreement with each other. The headmaster would take responsibility for whatever Ranma did when under school time, and Washu would take up responsibility for whatever the redhead did out of school time. It was a very quick and easy agreement.

The time that Ranma had been waiting for had arrived. To be able to see her first game of Quidditch to see if it was really as interesting as people said. The frozen ground crunched under everyone's feet as they made their way to the stadium and their respective sides. Ranma had sat down between Nashigi and Gosaria.

Thanks to having all her ki and mana back, the redhead didn't need to bundle herself as much. She still needed a scarf and hat, but she wasn't as cold. With the return of her abilities, there came the fact that she would have to help Nashigi in learning her own magic. As long as the dark-haired girl didn't do her laugh during the whole thing, the cat-girl wouldn't care. She had enough of the laugh from that dream she had last night about ten Naga clones and one real one, laughing all at once.

Ranma watched as the teams came onto the field, and how the captains had begun to shake hands. It looked more like they were trying to break each others fingers though. It wasn't long before they were all on their brooms and began to take off. The commentator, as the redhead noticed, had been Lee Jordan, a friend of Fred and George.

She had met the boy a few times when she had talked with the twins. The black boy seemed to have just as much of a sense of humor as his friends did. At first he was slightly fearful about the 'Red Cat of Slytherin', but began to warm up once he found out that the cat-girl wasn't like most of the other Slytherins.

They had actually tried to get her help in a scheme of theirs at one time. The scheme involved placing a wizarding stink bomb in the boys' Slytherin dormitories. This was mostly because they had a deep dislike for Draco and several of the other boys. Ranma had complained about it being a dishonest thing to do… even though she did think it would be a little humorous.

After several minutes of almost begging, she had agreed to do it. It had taken all her might to not laugh at the outcome, and all those affected by the stink bomb had smelled fowl for almost a week. To this day, nobody, except the twins, Lee, and her, could figure out what happened. With the passing of that moment, the cat-girl would sometimes help the three in a prank that seemed too big to pull off. Some people might have suspected she was responsible, but they didn't have the proof.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Nashigi began to talk. "My sister would love to be able to watch this."

Ranma blinked in her direction. "Eh, you have a sister? What's she like?" The cat-girl hoped beyond hope that she wasn't exactly like the dark-haired girl.

"Well, she's a year younger than you, so she'll start Hogwarts next year. She's loud, energetic, friendly, and shouts about justice a lot. She also has a love for climbing up to high places and jumping off of them. She does, however, land on her head a lot from doing that." Her azure eyes saw the look on her rival/friend's face. "I'm serious, she's that loony. She has an absolute love for Quidditch though."

'That description sounded a lot like…' A shiver ran through the redhead's spine before asking her last question. "What's her name?"

"Amy" The big chested girl said simply as she returned her attention back to the game. "Harry looks like he's having a bit of trouble on his broom." She observed.

Ranma's eyes returned to the game as well and saw that the Potter boy was indeed having trouble. His broom was bucking around wildly and trying to knock him off. 'I don't think a broom should be doing that.' The cat-girl thought as she looked around the field for whatever could be causing that.

Her eyes focused onto the form of Snape. His eyes were focused in the boy's direction, and his mouth was moving. The redhead was about to think he was the culprit, that was until she saw Quirrell doing the same thing. 'Hmm… one of them is causing the problem, and the other is probably trying to stop it.' She knew that the greasy-haired professor was a complete bastard, but she didn't think he was quite that bad. Quirrell on the other hand was the one that made her nervous.

Her blue/red eyes blinked when someone had begun moving around under the stands. She couldn't make it out too well, but it looked like Hermione. The bushy-haired girl accidentally bumped and knocked over the man in the turban and proceeded to set Snape's robes on fire. 'Probably the wrong person, but she did get the job done anyway.' Ranma noted at seeing the downed Quirrell.

She then watched as Harry got his broom under control and began to actually plummet to the ground for some reason. It was then that the cat-girl's eyes caught a glint of gold before it disappeared and the boy with the scar fell to the ground on all fours. He began to act like he was going to be sick, but, to Ranma's surprise, he ended up coughing up the Snitch. 'Eh, that's one way to catch it.' She said with a small amused smirk.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After the game, Ranma had lead Gosaria and Nashigi to meet up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione in Hagrid's hut. When Harry had announced he had caught the Snitch, the redhead had teleported over to where the other two Gryffindors and Hagrid were. The large man had asked her to come over for some tea as well.

As soon as the three Slytherins met up with the three Gryffindors at the hut, the latter began to talk about what they thought about the whole thing. Ranma gave a small frown at their accusing of Snape. "Actually, I think it was Quirrell's doing."

"Why do you say that, Lina?" Ron asked with a frown.

"A) Quirrell gives me an odd feeling whenever I'm around him. B) He was also chanting along with Snape. C) I just don't trust him." The cat-girl finished as she counted on her fingers.

"Rubbish" Hagrid countered "Why would someone like Snape or Quirrell do such a thin' like that?" The three Gryffindors looked at each other before Harry explained about the night on Halloween. The large and shaggy man dropped the teapot while Ranma blinked at the information.

"Huh, I wasn't aware of any of that, although I did see him limping a bit earlier this week. So Fluffy took a bite out the guy's leg… if I would have known that, I would have had given the dang dog some mouthwash." The redhead stated with a small smile.

"_**FLUFFY?!**_" Harry, Ron, and Hermione asked at the top of their lungs. Gosaria and Nashigi merely blinked as they continued to drink their tea.

Hagrid gave a reluctant nod. "Yeah… he's mine. I bought him from a Greek chappie I met in the pub las' year. I leant him to Dumbledore to protect the…."

"Yes?" Harry asked eagerly

Ranma found that the conversation had become a bit on the humorous side. The three Gryffindors tried to grill Hagrid for information, and suspecting Snape at the same time to the end. The large man had accidentally let slip the name Nicolas Flamel. Harry looked completely pleased with himself at figuring out the name of someone else involved. "Everything is starting to get a bit interesting here." She said to herself as she began to sip a little tea. Finally some more excitement was going on in this place.

"Quite the mystery too." Nashigi said calmly. "Do you plan on trying to figure it out as well, Lina?"

The cat-girl gave the older girl a look before responding. "Actually, I'm no good at mysteries. I am sure, though, that whatever you three" Her eyes looked towards the Gryffindors "find out will somehow find a way to drag me into it. Things like that always happen to me. I do hope the outcome will be something exciting for me to fight with, though." She said with a small smirk.

Gosaria gave a blink before looking around. "What were we all just talking about, and what mystery is going on?" Ranma and Nashigi face-faulted.

Hagrid, on the other hand, was not too pleased with the whole mess.

xxA.Nxx

Another chapter done. Now, I actually have a few questions to ask.

Should Ranma go on a vacation during the Christmas season? I am currently not to sure about this little bit right here. That would allow some freedom that she's been wanting.

If yes to question one, should Nashigi and Gosaria both go on vacation as well? Ranma could end up meeting Nashigi's younger sister. There might also be another confrontation with the crazy Quintinsy.

Finally, should the rest of the usual Nerima gang make appearances, and the ones who didn't know of Ranma's rebirth learn of it right then and there?


	12. The Catnip Curse is a Big No No

Wild Magic

Ranma 1/2, Slayers, and any other series used in this fanfic are owned by their respective creators/publishers/whatever

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Chapter 12

"You are no longer the only one around here who can use wandless magic easily, Lina." Nashigi stated with a laugh towards her redheaded rival. It was the first day of December, and the snow had already begun to fall just a couple days earlier. It was almost like a white and fluffy blanket was placed over the ground outside of the castle. The lake had also been completely frozen.

That was by all means fine to Ranma. She had found out during one of her trips near the lake that there were actually fish men, monsters with the body of a fish, but skinny human arms and legs and that could talk, that lived within the lake. One of the apparent leftovers from history long past. They also seemed to like her for some disturbing reason. Suddenly finding your head inside the mouth of a fish man was not a fun experience.

The redhead had also decided to help a little on the search for that Flamel guy. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were busting their brains so much on the job of looking for the mysterious person, that she felt it was a bad thing to _**NOT**_ help. That task, however, was a bit on the fruitless side.

"Easily… right" The cat-girl stated with a half-lidded stare. Many of the older girl's spells ended up backfiring on her on a regular basis. If it wasn't for the fact that they used the Room of Requirement for her to practice, then there would probably have been a whole lot of property damage and innocents hurt.

Xellos offered that maybe he could do a few things, but Ranma had outright refused. She did not want Nashigi, who was seemingly a bit far gone to insanity already, to be driven further into it by the crazy demon. That decision was fortified when the 11-year-old found out that the purple-haired mazouku had actually given Quintinsy a small pamphlet on dangerous and powerful spells. In effect, the trickster was the 'mysterious benefactor'.

Xellos went on to mention that he was just having a little fun with the playing field, and that there was no problem with that, was there? The fact that the boy was caught and expelled was just a hazard with playing a fun little game. Ranma didn't know which was worse. The fact that the trickster priest was having a little mindless fun, or the fact that he said it all with his stupid smile.

Nashigi gave a snap to her fingers. "You know what? I wonder if I could learn how to do _**THAT SPELL**_ those Weasley twins performed on you a while back." The dark-haired sorceress-in-training's mouth was suddenly stretched wide by a glaring redhead.

"Never, ever, beyond anything else, and I mean it, bring up _**THAT SPELL**_ again. Otherwise you will be tied to the highest part of Hogwarts. You hear me Nashigi?" Her self-declared rival was silent for a few seconds before nodding vigorously. "Good… because I mean it. I do not want to go through that again." Thinking about it made her shiver.

It was a couple weeks ago in which Fred and George had developed a new spell. It was actually a completely useless spell idea to a normal person. They discovered it when they were doing a little experimenting, and found that when used on a feline, the spell had the effect of a catnip induced feeling.

Sadly for Ranma, the redheaded twins decided to have a little fun and use it on her to see if it would work on a cat-girl. The spell did work… a little too well at that. The 11-year-old had a slight dazed and drunken feeling for almost three hours after the spell was cast. The details were slightly foggy after she came out of it.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx _**(A couple weeks ago)**_

"Whattaya lookin' at?" A nipped-up redhead asked towards her own shadow as she wobbled slightly on her feet. The damn thing insisted on mimicking her every action, and it was getting annoying. "Quit copyin' me, ya shtupid blob of darkness." She sent a punch towards the shadow, but her fist phased through the wall. "Shtupid masu powers." Ranma grumbled to herself.

Students walking around the area were a little freaked out by the sudden actions of the Red Cat. For some reason, she acted as if she was drunk beyond all reason. Once the news got out that the Weasley twins used a spell that induced a cat-nip feeling on the girl, it made sense. She was part cat after-all, and there was a large chance that it would affect her.

Fear had come to them when the cat-girl had started to laugh and giggle uncontrollably before looking in their directions. They made good use of their feet when the 11-year-old girl had begun to chase them as if they were mice. The fact that she had been meowing, growling, and hissing was not too comforting either.

After several moments of chasing, she had gotten bored and headed outside. Prowling around across the frozen ground on her hands and feet, the redhead soon found herself near an odd looking tree that was large and imposing. As soon as she had gotten closer to investigate it, the thing had seemed to move. The cat-girl was soon dodging large branches and limbs that were trying to bat her away.

"Meow!" Ranma cried out in joy as she had begun to jump and move across each limb as it tried to smash her. The tree seemed to get fully pissed off at its lack of hitting the thing that had disturbed it. The sad thing was… it couldn't do a thing because the girl was too fast. It had known it was beat, and it had stopped moving around.

The cat-girl had been a little sad that her playmate stopped playing. Giving a small shrug to it all, she had leapt off the tree and had begun to find another place to go. Her face broke into a smile when 'The Forbidden Forest' popped into her mind. "Oooo, explorin' dat place will be fun." So saying, Ranma had charged for the forest.

It wasn't that long after she had entered the forest in which numerous monstrous screams of pain and fear were heard from the darkness of the trees. Everybody who heard the screams decided to shrink back into Hogwarts and find a safe place to hide their innocent little hides.

It was an hour later when Ranma had made her way out of the forest with a smile on her face. Those creatures were so much fun to play with. The huge spiders were a little mean, but she had shown them not to mess with her. They didn't need to start cowering in fear though.

A voice ahead of her had interrupted her thoughts. "Ranma, let's go inside and see if we could help you with this small problem." The voice belonged to Dumbledore. Nobody else was around the area. This meant they were probably all scared or something. The aged wizard looked a little worried for some reason. "I believe that cat-nip should be a very big no-no on your list of things to avoid from now on."

"Ya got that right… Dumbahdoh." The redhead stated as she stood there wobbly. "Remin' me ta give Fred 'n George a piece o' my mind." She accepted the hand that had been offered to help lead her into the castle.

"I have a better idea, Ranma." He received a questioning look. "I believe that some meditative exercises might help you a little with this problem. It would also be better if you cleared your mind before talking to the twins. We don't want you to blow them up now, do we?"

Ranma gave a nod to that. "Ya, I shuppose dat blashtin' dem wouldn't be da besht way ta do tings." She had to stop for a second due to the need to vomit. "Gah… please remin' me dat cat-nip shtuff ish evil beyond all reason."

"I think this is a moment that nobody would need to be reminded of."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx _**(End Flashback)**_

Needless to say, the Weasley twins got into a small bit of trouble for doing that. They were forbidden, by Dumbledore, to use that spell on or around the younger redhead ever again. Filch was not too happy with all the mess he had to clean up due to a rampaging cat-girl. The old grump lamented about how the girl was probably worse than the Weasley twins at causing problems.

Fred and George had apologized to Ranma for the slight fiasco, and the blue/red-eyed girl shrugged it off and accepted the apology. A part of her wanted to get angry about it, but she had managed to push down that feeling thanks to some of the meditative exercises she had started doing.

Speaking of meditation, Happosai had actually ordered her to do it more often. The subject originated during one of their sparring sessions when the aged pervert had found out that the redhead was more focused in a fight after the constant meditation exercises that were bringing her mind closer to being calm and collected. This excited the diminutive man with the thought that the cat-girl was finally gaining control of her temper and was able to conduct a match without any bursts of anger.

She still had a short temper at times, such as when dealing with Nashigi, Gosaria, Xellos, and a few odd moments, but Happosai noticed that it was as if the two personalities that clashed about in the cat-girl's mind had finally started to settle in a kind of balance.

"I don't know, Lina. I think the way you were acting because of that spell was kind of cute." Gosaria stated with her head tilted. "Well, cute in a sort of wild, crazy, and dangerous beast kind of way." That actually didn't make sense to the blonde. "Wait… what?"

Ranma waved her off. "Don't worry about trying to think it through. It'll only bring more confusion." A cry of 'freeze arrow' was announced next to the redhead. Looking back towards the large-busted girl, she blinked. "What was that all about?"

"Well, I saw a target out there in the snow that I wanted to test that spell out on." Looking back out in the direction, she gave her patented laugh. "Ooohohohoo, it looks like I, Nashigi, managed to succeed!"

Her cat-girl friend blinked and looked out into the snow and saw a small pillar of ice. "What was it you hit?"

"It looked like a small black piglet pulling along a large backpack of some kind." The dark-haired girl was suddenly talking to an empty spot as the one who was standing there took off towards the small ice pillar. "What was that about?"

"I don't know, maybe she likes pigs." Gosaria answered back with a shrug. The two looked at each other and proceeded to run off after their friend. It was a few seconds later in which they caught up with the redhead who was kneeling by the currently frozen pig. Ranma then gave a small laugh.

"Wow, bacon-boy. You managed to get lost and find your way here." Chipping away at the ice with her ki claws, she picked up the ice contained pig and looked towards her friends. "Would you two mind carrying that traveling pack?"

The dark-haired girl and blonde looked at each other before walking up to the pack and trying to pick it up. They were both surprised to find that they could hardly move it. "What the hell is in this thing, and how could that pig drag it?!" Nashigi asked out.

A laugh came to the redhead as she asked them both to step aside. With one hand, she picked up the pack with little effort and slung it over her shoulder. "Come on guys; let's get this tub of bacon to the hospital wing." She proceeded to walk towards the entrance to Hogwarts.

Both her friends stared off after her with wide eyes, looked at each other, and then back towards the smaller redhead. "You know what?" The blonde asked. "I've seen that she has just enough muscle to look fit, but not enough to be _**THAT**_ strong. Lifting something with one arm that both of us could hardly lift."

Fire came to the older girl's eyes as she watched the younger girl walk off. "Lina Malfoy, you are an impressive rival indeed. I shall not rest until I surpass you! OoohohohohohoOUCH!" Her laugh was cut short by a small rock that hit her right on the forehead. "She has precise aim as well. Come on Gosaria."

"Uh… right" The blue-eyed blonde answered as the two began to chase after their friend. Entering the castle, the three began to walk towards the hospital wing. Other students who were walking to and fro stopped for a few seconds to watch another odd sight from the Red Cat of Slytherin. Many wondered why she was carrying a frozen pig and a large pack around her shoulder, but they ignored it.

When they finally got to their destination, Madam Pomfrey greeted them, but questioned why the young cat-girl was carrying around an iced pig. "What is the meaning of the pig, Miss Malfoy? I don't think it would be very healthy to bring it here."

"Sorry Madam Pomfrey, but this was the first place that came to mind. Do you have a small basin I could use to thaw the little guy out of his prison?" The matron of Hogwarts looked at the redhead for a few seconds before having them follow her. She directed her to a small basin that was big enough for the small pig to be placed in. "Thanks Madam Pomfrey." Ranma said as she placed what she was carrying into the container.

Putting her hands together, she continued with a small chant "Oh, source of all power, light which burns beyond crimson, let thy power gather in my hand. FIREBALL!" A small ball of fire appeared in her hands. Giving a blow with her breath, the flame acted as a flame thrower and headed towards the ice. The frozen water gradually began to melt, and after a few moments, the ice was just a puddle of water in the basin.

Moving a little, the pig began to blink his eyes, trying to figure just what the hell happened. He was splashed by some cold water in a place that was warm, but then he found himself walking through snow. That was until something completely froze him in place. Looking around the area, he noticed that he was in some kind of hospital, and there were a few sets of eyes watching him. One of them had red hair and a mixture of blue and red in her eyes. Wait, red hair and a mixture of blue and red eyes? He hadn't seen that combination in a while, and the last person who had it was…

"Sheesh bacon breath, you sure do get far with your lousy sense of direction." Ranma said with a smirk. "I'm surprised you haven't wandered into some pork roast by noOUCH!" The small black pig had jumped into her head and knocked her back. "Heh, you're still as strong as an ox." Waving it off, the redhead walked over to the traveling pack and pulled out a few clothing items.

"Aren't those clothes a little big for the pig?" Gosaria asked in confusion. Her eyes then lit up. "Hey, big for the pig. I made a rhyme." Everyone gave an odd look in her direction.

"Whatever" The cat-girl said as she rolled her eyes. "You three might want to brace yourselves, and maybe you should contact Dumbledore, Madam Pomfrey." At that statement, the older woman looked on in confusion. Ranma shrugged before she pointed a hand towards the basin of melted ice and sent off a fireball. The flame managed to heat up the water just enough. "There you go Ryoga, make it quick." The redhead also added a whisper that only he could here. "And while you're here, call me Lina. Let loose the secret, and you'll be a roast dinner."

A sweat-dropped formed on the pig with a bandana as he nodded. Quickly, he hopped into the now hot water and reverted to his birth form. With a quick motion, he grabbed his clothes and pulled them on. Behind the 11-year-old girl, two students and a matron looked on in shock at the fact that a small pig turned into a man with just hot water. Pomfrey decided that the best thing to do _**WOULD**_ be to contact the Headmaster.

"Huh… you've changed a little since I saw you last, Ryoga." The cat-girl observed. The last time she saw the guy was about five years ago when Akane had learned of his secret of being P-chan. Akari was the one who had convinced him to tell the tomboy. The redhead was there at the exact moment it happened. Needless to say, the youngest Tendo daughter went on a small warpath, and they hadn't seen the two since.

The man in front of her was around 29-years-old, and his muscle mass seemed to be a little larger than it was all those years ago. Not too much, just enough to show that he was a strong martial artist. One of the biggest differences was that her former rival had grown a small beard. "Wow, P-chan's grown some piggy hair on his chinny chin chin." A fist suddenly found its way onto her head. "Ouchie"

"And you haven't changed on bit, still the rude and obnoxious little jerk." He winced when an elbow nailed him on the head. The lost man reached his hand out and pinched his former rival's cheek. "Little girls shouldn't so rude."

"Says you, bacon head." The two glared at each other while Nashigi and Gosaria looked on in complete confusion. The stare match ended when a voice made itself known.

"Ah, I'm glad to see that you're in such high spirits today, Lina." Dumbledore commented as he entered the room and moved towards the group. "I take it that this is a friend from the past?" His eyes twinkled behind the half-moon spectacles he wore.

"Oh, hey old fart." Ranma stated with a smile and a wave. "Yeah, you could kind of consider this guy to be a friend." The redhead pointed to her dark-haired friend. "Nashigi saw a little pig in the snow and decided, out of oh so sheer brilliance, to fire a freeze arrow him." Her eyes looked back to the man with a bandana. "This is one problem that you _**CAN'T**_ blame me for. I have been teaching her to use her wandless magic though."

"So it is your fault." Ryoga stated with a half-lidded stare. At the 11-year-old's nervous chuckle, the former rival softened up a little. "Don't worry your head… Lina" the name was odd to say "I'm no longer the person who swore an oath of revenge all those years ago. I've grown up since then." A smirk came to his face. "That doesn't mean I can't tease you a little from time to time." His hand reached out and pinched the girl's cheek again. "Such a cute little cat-girl you've become." He laughed out. A second later, a foot was in his stomach.

"So, how's life been treating you these last five years, _**P-chan**_?" The redhead dodged a lazy slap to her forehead. She then sent a tweak to the man's nose.

"Well, Akari and I finally settled down five years ago after she got me to confess my curse to Akane. We also have a four-year-old daughter named Chihiro." He gave a large sigh. "The only problem is how my poor sense of direction keeps me away a lot. I've missed so many of Chihiro's first moments."

Ranma gave a frown at that. 'Still has a lot of depression, that hasn't changed either. Only this time it's for a good reason. I feel sorry for the guy.' Her eyes lit up for a second. 'I wonder if I could get Washu to help on this thing, or maybe I could try and do it. There's a whole library of books on magic here, and maybe one has something on directional curses or something. If I can't do something like that, then what good is this magic I have? Damn it, pig man.'

Coming back to the world around her, the redhead looked around and blinked when she didn't see the Hibiki man. "Hey, where did Ryoga go?"

"He asked to use the restroom while you were deep in thought." Madam Pomfrey stated simply as she went about cleaning up the basin of water. Nashigi and Gosaria looked on in confusion when their friend slapped her own head.

"The guy has the worst direction sense in the world. Believe me on that. He could get lost in a windowless room with one door and somehow end up somewhere else." Four pairs of eyes looked towards her in disbelief. "Don't believe me? Then watch and see if he returns."

After several moments of waiting, the Hogwarts matron went to check. She came back with a weird look on her face. "You were right, he is gone. I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't witness it myself."

"Yeah, there's no telling where he went to." She began to mumble to herself about 'the same after 14 years' and other small things. Her friends looked at each other before walking up to the redhead.

"Uh, Lina" Nashigi began as she whispered into her friend's ear. "What's all this about 14 years?"

"And why did you two act as if you were almost on the same age level or something?" The blonde asked as well. She may not be the sharpest one out there, but even something like that would seem a little odd.

A sweat-drop formed on the cat-girl's head. "Would you believe I was thinking a bunch of nonsense?" 'How the hell did I end up slipping like that?' At the pair of stares that were being sent her way, Ranma gave a nervous laugh. "I'm serious. I was just talking a bunch of nonsense." The laugh ended when the dark-haired girl wrapped an arm around her left one. The blonde did the same for her right one.

"I believe" Nashigi began "That we need to learn a little more about our friend. Don't you agree, Gosaria?" A small smirk was on her face. She would learn a little more about her rival today for sure.

"Yes we do, Nashigi." The blonde stated with a bright and sunny smile. "Friends shouldn't keep crazy secrets from friends." A look on confusion came to her face. "Where should we go to talk though? I think this might be something that Lina wouldn't want anybody else to hear."

"I believe my office might be the best place for a private discussion, girls." Dumbledore stated with a slight twinkle in his eyes. The redhead did need more people who knew around here.

"Damn it, old fart." Ranma stated before sighing. "Alright, I believe you two should know. Come on, let's go." With that said, the cat-girl used her teleportation to take them all to Dumbledore's office. It was going to be a long explanation, and hopefully neither of the two would go off the deep end.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ryoga looked around in annoyance. "Where the hell am I now?" He said to himself as he began walking. His eyes widened when he saw the sign that said 'Hibiki – Unryu Pig Farm'. "Did… I make it back?" He asked himself as he charged forward, the house in his sights. The door opened up quickly, and out shot a small blur that jumped at him.

"Daddy's home!" The little girl shouted in glee as she hugged her father with all her might. The lost man looked down at his daughter and felt a surge of happiness. His smile grew wider when he saw his wife exit the house.

"I'm home… again, Akari, Chihiro." The short-haired man said with a large laugh. He was then helped up to his feet by Akari. "I… haven't missed our daughter's birthday, have I?"

The dark-haired woman shook her head. "You're in luck, dear, it's tomorrow. Now come on into the house. We're making sure you stay here for tomorrow." The woman and child began to drag the overjoyed man into the house.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"You have got to be kidding." Nashigi said with wide eyes as her rival and friend finished her story. "How can I ever keep up with someone who has two previous lives of experience with things? Well, you may only remember bits and pieces of the first life, but still…" The dark-haired girl asked with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Wow, three chances at life, one of those lives ended short due to someone killing you unfairly." Gosaria whined out with tears in her eyes as well. "Well, as they say, third time's a charm."

Ranma could only blink at the reactions of the two. "I… was expecting you two to go a little crazy or something. After-all, my previous life…" She didn't get to finish because of a fist hitting her on the top of the head. "Ow, what did you do that for?"

"It is true" Nashigi began with her arms crossed "that many people would be disturbed by the fact that you used to be a boy." The dark-haired girl uncrossed her arms and pointed at the cat-girl's nose. "But why should I care about that? You are still the same person that I declared a rivalry with. Did you honestly think that you being a boy in a past life would stop me?" A smirk came to her. "If anything… I now have someone to ask certain questions that with regards to the male gender."

"Wha?!" The redhead asked as she began to make warding gestures. "Now wait just a minute here." The blonde of the trio draped an arm around her shoulder.

"I think it's really cool." The sometimes slow girl replied. "I mean, it's slightly odd to know someone who actually had a sex change, but it's cool at the same time." She received a couple of odd stares. "What, did I say something weird again?" The blonde began to try and think of what she said that could have been weird. "I've got nothing."

Giving a sigh, the cat-girl shook her head. "I guess I should have expected this. These two aren't the most normal and sane people around." A couple people clearing their throats brought her to attention. Looking at her two friends, she saw that they had their arms crossed and were staring right at her. "Uh… you didn't just hear that, did you?" 'Jeez Ranma, you haven't put your foot in your mouth for a long time.'

A finger from the 13-year-old poked Ranma in the nose. "Do you really think our ears can't hear? They may not be as good as yours, but we heard every word." A smirk came to her face. "You can't put one over Nashigi. OoohohohohohohoooOUCH." Exclaimed the dark-haired girl as she was pecked on the head by Fawkes the Phoenix. "Humph, nobody respects such a refine laugh."

"Hey, what is that bird, Lina?" Gosaria asked as she began to pet the strange bird on the head.

"Ah, that's Fawkes. He's Dumbledore's phoenix." Ranma stated simply.

"Oh wow" The blonde stated with glee. "Um… what's a phoenix?" Her two friends, and a few former headmasters in portraits, face-faulted. Fawkes, on the other hand, gave a large sweat-drop. "What did I say?"

She suddenly found herself in a headlock from her redheaded friend. "Everybody has heard of a phoenix! It's a bird that is reborn from its own ashes when it dies." Oh yeah, now the cat-girl was sure of Gosaria.

"Ooohhhh, now I get it. That means it's magical or something."

"I think you got it." The blue/red-eyed girl said as she released her friend. "Let's get something straight." She pointed to both of her friends. "The info I told you is not to be mentioned to anybody else. You got it?"

The azure-eyed blonde tapped her chin. "You mean the info about the phoenix?" A second face-fault occurred. "Oh wait, you mean the info about your previous life." Her face scrunched up. "But why is that?"

"It's because of a few reasons. One of the reasons is that I used to be a boy. Do you realize how awkward that would seem to a few people around her, especially the ones who used the bath while I was there?" Ranma shivered at the thought. It had the makings of something that could get messy. "Another reason is if this all gets out to the wrong people."

"The wrong people?" Gosaria asked

"There are probably still followers of Voldemort around" At the mention of that name, her two friends actually shivered. "What, you're afraid of that name? Eh, never mind." The cat-girl said waving it off. "Considering that the idiot thought of me as some kind of threat, you can be sure there would be people who would attempt to do me in. I also don't believe that he's dead either. Now, I don't believe that any of them would be able to lay a finger on me" she received a half-lidded stare from both her friends "but I do believe it would be annoying to have people constantly after my hide… again."

"You can really be full of yourself, sometimes." Nashigi stated.

"You're one to talk, Miss 'I'm Lina's greatest rival'." Ranma stated with a small smirk. The larger chested girl gave a small shrug in response.

"Well, I am."

"Yeah, whatever."

Gosaria gave a few nods. "Alright, I think I've got it. We keep this secret, and don't tell anybody, right?" A frown came to her. "But what about Hermione?" Wouldn't it be bad to keep her out on this?

"I'll tell her later on. If I tell her about this, she'll probably try to shrink back away from me again." Her blue/red eyes looked back at her companions. "It's still hard to believe you two aren't shrinking away from me."

"Hey, you're weird enough already." Nashigi calmly stated with a smirk. "What's more weirdness to it all?" The taller girl grabbed the redhead by the shirt. "I do think you could have told us earlier, though."

"It… uh… didn't cross my mind?" Ranma offered as she laughed nervously. The laugh died when she saw the two looks she was getting. "Alright already, jeez. We don't have to go and punish the story teller, now do we?" The twinkle in the two pairs of blue eyes looking back at her made the redhead a little nervous. "Uh… guys?"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

To anybody else, it wouldn't seem to be a punishment, but for the redheaded cat-girl, it was. She even had to slightly admit that the two deserved to be a little annoyed over her keeping the little info a secret all this time, but did they really need to go about forcing her to do that?

Who would have known that Nashigi had something like that? She wasn't the type of girl, at least that's what Gosaria and Ranma had thought. The punishment was a very simple matter. All the redhead had to do was sleep each night by wearing an extremely pink and frilly nightgown. Sure it was simple at the thought, but for a certain cat-girl… it was torture.

It was so frilly and pink that it should have been a crime against all that was natural in the world. What's worse is that the girls in the dorm she was sharing with had actually said it looked cute, and better than the blue pajamas with fish motif she usually wore. Who the hell were they trying to kid?

That was her punishment from Nashigi. Gosaria's punishment was just as annoying. She had an insanely cute jellyfish plush doll that she gave to the cat-girl and said she'd have to sleep with it each night. It was completely embarrassing, but nobody else could see why it was. Only the dark-haired, blonde, and redhead knew for sure.

Ah yes, and because of the story she told the two, the older girl wanted to meet Xellos. Sure enough, the purple-haired mazouku had actually said it would be fun to help Nashigi with her magic. There was a small bit of rivalry that would fuel the big-busted girl, and make her try and exceed the redhead. What's worse, the trickster even _**ENCOURAGED**_ the self proclaimed rival in her laugh.

Gosaria had asked the demon if she would be able to cast any wandless magic. His response to her had been, of course, 'it's a secret'. With that response, the blonde began to pout a little at being left behind. This prompted Ranma to shove a fireball into the trickster's face.

The cat-girl then proceeded to explain to her friend that she _**WAS**_ getting better at her magic with a wand. That perhaps it would only be a matter of time. If a girl who laughs like a banshee and sometimes lives in her own little world could do it, then maybe she could. That was actually a bit of false hope on the redhead's part. It seemed that Gosaria was indeed reborn from someone of Lina's past who couldn't use magic. The blonde had enough in her to use a wand though. That could be a start.

Her two friends actually had a run-in with Happosai once as well. The old pervert couldn't resist groping onto Nashigi. The dark-haired girl understood that she was so attractive, but that still didn't excuse the diminutive man from hopping onto her. The aged martial arts master was faced with a freeze arrow, and Gosaria whacking him with a stick while he was frozen.

After letting loose her secret to the two, it almost felt as if she could relax a little more in how she acted around them. The difference wasn't too easy for people to notice. She still had a short temper and all, but she seemed slightly more easy going and good-natured. To Ranma, it felt like, since the two knew her secret, she was back with the Masaki's

When she was living at the Masaki house, her personality was exactly similar to her previous life. There was the fact that she became a little less rude though thanks to Washu. She had still been prideful and arrogant, especially around Ryoko. The older masu woman seemed to bring out competitiveness in the redhead. It didn't help that the woman would constantly harp on about her skills and all.

Maybe she should have told Gosaria and Nashigi sooner though. Ah well, that was all in the past. The question now would be when and if she should inform Hermione, Harry, and Ron. Telling them now would be very awkward, and informing the bespectacled boy of the prophesy she had heard a while back would only make the boy worry. Ah well, she figured they could be told later.

Speaking of the three Gryffindors, Ranma had run across them on her way to the library to try and look and see if there were any books dealing on directional problems. They had asked if she found anything on that Flamel guy, and the redhead had shaken her head. It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. The redhead figured a clue would be in the most unlikely place. Since that's usually how it went.

It was a few days later in which she had a run-in with yet another former Nerima acquaintance. This time, however, it wasn't an honest and good meeting between a 'friend'. It was just a person who continued to have a grudge against a certain individual who was around the area.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"So Lina" Gosaria began as the three watched Hagrid bring in some trees for Christmas décor. "Are you going to be leaving the school during the holidays?"

Ranma looked in her direction and nodded. "Yeah I am. Two weeks away from this place to stretch my legs, get some fresh air, and all that good stuff." Her eyes looked towards her two friends. "You two going away as well?"

The blonde shook her head. "I'm staying here for the holidays. I don't want to have to put up with my brother again so soon. He might be a little sore with me for that day." A frown came to her. "Apparently mom and dad are very disappointed in him, but they do wish me well in my schooling."

"Well" Nashigi began "if I don't visit home, my sister will whine about the injustice of it all. She'll talk about how I was trying to avoid her and all." The dark-haired girl gave a sigh. "Oh she can be so childish sometimes." She caught a half-lidded look from her redheaded friend. "Well… she can."

"Yeeaahh…" The cat-girl drawled out. She was about say some more when a small explosion was heard outside. Turning around, Ranma made her way to the front doors with her friends behind her. Looking outside, a slight twitch developed in her eye. "You've got to be kidding me." She said in an exasperated way.

Out in the snow was the diminutive form of Happosai fighting off against the monstrous form of Pantyhose Taro. After all this time, is the large idiot was still searching for a name change? It was apparently only a matter of time before Happosai was tracked down again. To her side was Hagrid, who had heard the commotion and rushed out. "What the hell? It's a bloomin' minotaur wit' octopus tentacles on its back, an' wings as well. It's… fightin' a small old man?"

"Yeah… you know what" the redhead began with a sigh "this is no place for those bastards to be fighting." Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw more people start to arrive. 'Great, let's bring everybody out and be at a danger.' Shaking her head, she rushed forward and made a leap towards the head of the large beast.

Taro made a roar of pain when a foot collided with the side of his head, causing him to stumble backwards a few. Shaking his head, he looked in front to see an odd little redheaded girl with cat features floating in the air. The girl began to talk at a whisper that only he could hear. "Yeah, you know what, Panty Princess; there are a lot of innocent bystanders that could get hurt because of you."

The creature's eyes became wide in shock. The only person who taunted him with names like that was killed several years ago. The fem-boy should be dead and buried, and not right here. Well… the person appeared to be a girl and a child… with cat features and seemed to be floating, but the red hair and blue eyes, even though there was red in them, was unmistakable. His eyes then narrowed as he brought his fist back and launched a punch aimed for her head.

To his shock, however, the girl seemed to vanish in thin air and appear near the side of his head. "Hmm…" She said with a finger to her mouth "still a bit slow in this form, Pantyhose bastard." The redhead dodged an octopus tentacle and appeared in front of him again, upside down. "What's the matter, getting a little angry?" She dodged around several shots of ink before appearing on the monster's shoulder.

"You want the little pervert, do you not?" She whispered with a small smile. Taro reluctantly gave a small nod. "Good" she stated before vanishing and appearing behind Happosai and grabbing him by the gi. "We don't need this kind of trouble, Happy. So why don't you just bug off?" Pulling her arm back, she gave a powerful toss that sent the diminutive man flying off into the distance.

Running up to the man turned monster, the redhead gave a well placed kick into his stomach. It didn't phase Taro too much, but was enough to cause a little discomfort. "I owe you back for some of the trouble you caused me in the past, first." Moving back a ways, she started to chant. "Oh, source of all power, light which burns beyond crimson, let thy power gather in my hand." A small orb of fire appeared in her hands. Her expression turned into a smirk. "Enjoy your trip, Panty Bastard. FIREBALL!" The ball of crimson light shot forth and slammed right into the Minotaur wannabe. The force sent the chimera into the sky in the direction that Happosai went.

Settling back onto the ground, the blue/red-eyed girl noticed the looks she was getting and scratched the back of her head nervously. "Well, that solved the problem, right? There probably could have been people hurt otherwise."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After that little show outside, it seemed as if the students were as reluctant as ever to look at her. There was even a new nickname going around, The Minotaur Basher. It… actually had a nice ring to it, and Ranma hoped she would meet up again with Taro some other time. That way they could have another battle, and not have to cut it short for fear of property damage or something.

Gosaria and Nashigi had laughed their asses off when they learned that the creature was really a man named Pantyhose Taro. They were curious as to why someone would have that name. Once the redhead mentioned that Happosai was the one who gave the guy his name, they actually thought it made sense. Only one encounter with the pervert, and the two already had an idea about him.

Ah yes, Happosai. He was apparently a little peeved over what the cat-girl had done to him. Xellos mentioned that after that toss, the diminutive pervert had hit a tree and was knocked out. Taro then ended up falling onto the Anything Goes master, and managed to get a few hits in. The man got away, but he would be in some casts for a little while.

That left the fact that the purple-haired mazouku would have a bit more time with the redhead. It made no sense at all. Xellos would begin to help her with magic, but then would break it off early and proceed to have some fun doing whatever it was that he thought would annoy her.

He did teach her some things like the Balus Rod, a whip of light that appeared in her hand, and other techniques of both magical and martial. The only problem was… he would only teach her a little bit, or hardly any, of the skill, and then she would have to try and figure out the rest of it. This was actually fun for her though. The redhead enjoyed the challenge of figuring out a new skill. It made her feel like the times she attempted to learn new skills in her previous life.

Time seemed to fly pretty quickly until it was time for the holiday break. It seemed that Draco was planning on going home for the holiday as well. The only problem was how he taunted many people who would be staying, saying that they probably didn't have families to go home to.

"So what are your plans, sis?" The pale-eyed boy asked Ranma as they began to board the train that would take them back to London. There the students who were going away on holiday would then get picked up and taken by their families.

"Well" The cat-girl began as Laira hopped onto her shoulder "I think I might visit mom and dad for a little while, and then go and visit Washu. I'm not sure on what I'll do." She had actually planned on seeing if Laira could now fly well and maybe do a small bit of traveling.

Nashigi chose that moment to wrap her arm around the redhead's shoulder. "I think you should also come and visit the great Nashigi the Serpent's family. Nothing could be more interesting than that, Ooohohohohohooo!" Draco raised an eyebrow before leaning in towards his sister.

"Uh, Lina, how did you manage to become friends with her?"

"I attract weird people. I can't help it. I just attract some of the oddest people in the world." Ranma answered with a simple shrug. 'Well, it is true.'

The dark-haired girl looked towards the smaller girl and gave a pout. "Ooohhhh, you don't mean that, do you?"

'I should have just used my powers instead of relying on this boring train ride. Ah well, at least I'll have a chance to get a few snacks on the way. I might stock up a little on Chocolate Frogs. Those things are good.' The cat-girl thought to herself as she sat down in a seat and looked outside at the blanket of snow covering the ground. 'I'll finally be able to stretch my legs a little.'

xxA.Nxx

I had a little trouble with figuring out how to go about doing this chapter, but after I knew what to do, it came easily. I feel that this chapter would be considered to be some kind of filler, even though it is a chapter. Ah well, you can't have things without some filler. It also seemed understandable to have Gosaria and Nashigi learn of Ranma's secret.


	13. Holiday Vacation Part 1

Wild Magic

Ranma 1/2, Slayers, and any other series used in this fanfic are owned by their respective creators/publishers/whatever

Thanks to CyberSkaarj for pre-reading

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Chapter 13

Ranma was watching out the frosted windows of the train as it passed by the frozen and snow-covered landscapes. The sky was covered with a blanket of white and puffy clouds that blocked any light from the sun. She was currently eating a pumpkin pastry that she had bought from the cart witch who traveled up and down the train. On her head was Laira -- also eating a pumpkin pastry -- watching out the window with her. The entire compartment she was in was completely quiet.

Nashigi had been in here with her a few moments ago, but had decided to walk around the train and honor people with her great and terrific laugh. The redhead wondered just how many people would curse the girl. Hermione had decided to meet with a few people from her own house for a little while. This left the cat-girl and her 'daughter' to sit in peace.

"You don't mind if I have a chocolate frog, do you Ranma?" A voice cheerfully asked out of the blue. Startled, she turned her head to see Xellos sitting across from her with the aforementioned candy in hand. "Oh my, did I startle you a little?"

Ranma sent a small glare towards the demon. "What the hell are you doing here, Xellos?" There went the nice and peaceful trip that she had been experiencing. The purple-haired priest brought his face a few inches from hers with his left eye open a bit, and a tiny toothy smirk instead of his usual goofy grin.

"Now is that anyway to treat a friend? I figured that you could use a bit of company since everyone seems to be doing their own little thing." He sat back again and begun to open the chocolate frog. "Besides, I would feel a little lonely if I didn't talk to you for two weeks."

A laugh came to the redhead. "Oh, that's a real laugh, Xellos." The laugh turned into a sigh and shrug. "Since you're here, I guess you could stay. I'd hate to admit it, but you are good company sometimes. Well, better than the pervert at least."

A chuckle escaped from the demon. "Anyone would be better company than Happosai, Ranma. He is known by most of demon and divine races as 'the evil among humans'. The only reason he is training you is to put the future of the Anything Goes school into your hands. Then he would be free to do almost whatever he wanted and screw the consequences."

"Well that makes a lot more sense than anything else. I've seen him attempt to do a good deed before. His brain nearly exploded." That thought caused the cat-girl to shiver. "Not something one would want to think about."

The strangely dressed man gave shake to his head. "It would be one big gooey mess." Finished unwrapping the chocolate frog, he looked at the card he was received. "Ooohhh, a Dumbledore card." He stuck the candy in his mouth and began to read the back of it.

"Ah, so the Old Fart has his own card?" Ranma asked with a blink. He really must have been a great wizard then. "Eh, it's probably full of info about him doing odd things." Taking a cauldron cake, she began to devour it.

"--for the discovery of twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel." Xellos read aloud, causing the redhead to choke on her cake. "Dumbledore much enjoys chamber music and ten-pin bowling. Hmm… he sounds like an interesting fellow." The mazouku looked in the direction of the choking girl -- Laira was attempting to hit her on the back to help -- and tilted his head. "Is there anything wrong, Ranma?"

Finally getting herself under control, the cat-girl gave a weak nod. "That's the guy that Harry, Ron, and Hermione have been trying to look for since we heard the name after the Quidditch match." She then slapped her head. "Didn't I say it would be in an odd place?"

Looking contemplative, the trickster stroked his chin. "Hmm… well isn't this an interesting turn of events." He stated in false surprise.

Ranma got to her feet and began to head out of the compartment. "I should go tell Hermione about thi--" Her way was suddenly blocked by Xellos's wooden staff. Blinking, the cat-girl looked towards the demon. "What are you doing?"

She received a cheerful smile. "You're on break, Ranma. Why must you worry yourself with such trivial things that should just be left in the hands of those who are really interested?" With a motion of his staff, he knocked the girl back into her seat. "It would ruin a little fun if they would find out right now."

A frown appeared on the redhead's face. "You're just trying to delay it all, aren't you?" The guy always seemed to do stuff like this.

"Is there anything wrong with having people search until they lose hope and can't search anymore, and then sweeping in at the last moment and to provide them with the very info they need?" The purple-haired trickster gave a small frown himself. "You need to learn how to relax with things like this, Ranma."

"Momma's already relaxed, isn't she?" Laira asked with a tilt to her head. She didn't notice any stress in the girl at all. "What are you trying to say, Uncle Xellos?" She received a wide-eyed stare from a certain cat-girl, and Xellos himself blinked several times. "Well," Laira began with a small blush, "I like to think of him as some eccentric uncle."

"Now that was something I would never have expected." The demon stated before shaking his head. "What I'm saying is that Ranma needs to learn how to have _**FUN**_ with valuable information such as this." He leaned forward, grabbed the redhead's hand, and moved it in front of her mouth. "Now, I'm aware of how much Lina Inverse disliked it at times, and how you have an aversion to the phrase sometimes, but I think this will be fun. Close your left eye, wiggle your index finger, and say 'now that… is a secret'."

With a small frown, the redhead proceeded to do just that. "Now that… is a secret." Her blue/red eyes blinked for a few moments. "Now that… is a secret." After a few more moments of silence, she began to talk again. "That… is actually kind of fun." There was a part of her that was screaming about it, but the other part found it amusing.

"Think of it this way, Ranma. If someone asks a question that you don't want to answer, you could do that. You could also use your masu abilities for a mysterious escape." The mazouku stated while eating a pastry.

Blue/red eyes looked towards the man "Why exactly are you telling me this?" Was there really a reason for him to inform her of it? From the memories she had gained from Lina so far, the demon in front of her always had some ulterior motive for doing things.

"Oh, there's no true reason for it all. I just enjoy hanging around with you." The priest of Zelas stated innocently. "Well, there is always a reason for things, Ranma. It's just that it all holds no significance at this date and time. Could you please hand me another chocolate frog… thank you."

Ranma stared at the mazouku for a few moments before responding. "So there's a reason for everything, and it's better that I be left in the dark until the time comes, am I right?" It was all completely suspicious, and she wished there was more information that she could go by. 'Does it have something to do with the demon race?' She thought to herself.

"You caught on faster than I thought you would, Ranma." Xellos stated with no surprise. "I was worried that you wouldn't have learned that life is like that. You are correct in that assumption of yours, and it would not be good to let loose just what the reason behind it all is." His smile faltered when he caught the 11-year-old's eyes twinkling with mischief. "Um, Ranma," he began, "you're not going to try what I think you are--"

He wasn't able to finish before the redhead made her move by use of the one devious skill that could fall anyone. "Pwease Xellos?" She asked while beginning to use the dreaded puppy dog attack. The cat-girl had learned long ago that people were quite susceptible to it. She had also used it to make people give her extra helpings of ice cream. "I know you would like to tell me what is going on."

"For the love of all that is evil and indecent, stop that this instant." The trickster demon stated while a feeling of nausea welled up within him. "I will not tell you, and that's final." Relief came to him when the girl stopped with the act and decided to bonk him hard upside the head.

"Well, it was worth a try." Ranma stated in annoyance. Her eyes returned to looking out the window at the scenery passing by. "Jeez, I forgot how slow this all was. I really should have just teleported or something."

"Speaking of teleportation," her companion began, "I feel that it is my time to leave for now. Do try and lose your temper and cause as much chaos as you can, Ranma." Xellos finished before he left from the area completely. The only item that was left to show he had been there was the Dumbledore card from the chocolate frog. Reaching over, the redhead picked up the cart and looked at it. Giving a shrug, she stuck it away for safe-keeping.

It was at that moment when the door to her compartment opened, and Hermione and Nashigi entered. The latter seemed to be a bit fried -- if her hair was any indication -- and messy. "Nobody appreciates my laugh." The dark-haired girl stated before she sat down. "They didn't have to hit me so many times with hexes though."

The other girl stifled a giggle as she sat down next to Ranma. "How could you not notice that the laugh annoys people?"

"My laugh is a thing of beauty, Hermione."

"Sure it is." The bushy-haired girl stated with a smile before looking towards her redheaded friend. "Anything interesting happen while you were sitting here alone?" If it was anybody else, the question would be useless. Since this was a certain cat-girl, however, the outcome could be interesting.

Ranma glanced at the intelligent girl and contemplated telling her of the small find that she had discovered a little bit ago. Did she really want to tell her friend about it right now? It was tempting, but the girl would probably bust her brains in trying to figure out the connection. Hermione should just enjoy the holidays and relax. With her mind made up, the redhead gave a small smile, closed her left eye, and began to wag her index finger. "That… is a secret."

Too bad she had forgotten the fact that Nashigi had known very well where that sentence had come from. "Since when did…?" Realization came to the big-busted girl. "Oho, you must know something very interesting, Lina. Come on, tell me. Pretty please?" She began to pout when her friend wouldn't say. "Fine, I'll just have to challenge you then."

"Say what?" The redhead asked with a blink. "You do realize we are currently on a train, right?"

"Um… fine, then we'll do it when we get off the train. If I defeat you, you'll tell me what it is that you are hiding." A smirk came to the dark-haired girl. 'The moment we step outside, I'll defeat you with a freeze arrow, my rival.'

The cat-girl looked at her self-proclaimed rival. "If you say so, Nashigi."

Hermione looked between the two and held out her hands. "Now wait a minute you two. If you do anything like that, you'll get in trouble." Would they really be so reckless as to do something like that in front of so many people? They could get expelled or something. Her eyes watched as Laira hopped into her lap.

"There's no use reasoning with momma when she gets into something like this. One thing about her that she doesn't like to give up is her pride when challenged. She's stubborn like that." The young cabbit received a glare from her 'mother'. Giving a smile, she jumped into the cat-girl's lap. 'I have a surprise for you, momma.'

'What's that, Laira? You finally learned how to truly respect me?' The last part was stated with some humor behind it.

'Uh-uh' Laira answered back with a big smile. 'I can finally fly in ship mode without crashing! I snuck out a couple days ago and tried it. I no longer wobble unsteadily and crash into the ground.' Her small form was then picked up into Ranma's arms.

'That's great, Lai! Maybe we take you out for a test flight later on during the break.' It will open up a whole new window of opportunities to take part in. 'Oh, I know. We've never been to the moon before. Maybe we could visit that place near the end of the holiday.'

Laira nodded vigorously. 'I'll show you how good I can fly, momma.'

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It took a little while longer before the train finally started to come to a stop at King's Cross. As soon as they stopped, Nashigi had jumped to her feet. "Oohohohoho, I'll wait for you outside the train, Lina. We shall meet with a duel of sorcery, and the most powerful sorceress shall win. I think we know who that will be."

A slight twitch came to Ranma's eye as the older girl took off running out the compartment. Giving a shake to her head, she got to her feet and proceeded out of the compartment herself. Hermione had tried to tell her to not do anything, but she ignored that and figured that her rival/friend would never learn.

As soon as she stepped off the train, she saw the dark-haired girl standing by herself with nobody around. It looked like the girl was getting ready to cast a freeze arrow. The redhead gave a smirk before she tried a spell that she modified off of another one. "Mini Brand" she calmly said. The spell was a lot like the Dill Brand, but the explosion was smaller, and the circle was smaller as well. This meant it could be used in an even smaller space.

The area under Nashigi gave way and exploded upwards, sending the girl onto her back. She was slightly charred and twitching, but none-the-worse for wear. "No fair Lina." She whined out at the cat-girl. "You didn't give me a chance to ready myself."

"The difference between winning and losing is based on being ready in time. If you aren't ready, then you lose. It's as simple as that." Reaching down, she began to help the azure-eyed girl to her feet. "When you learn that much, you can challenge me again." An arm wrapped around her shoulder as Nashigi smiled.

"I have already learned that, Lina. That means we can battle again at this moment." Jumping back, she proceeded to get ready. "Let's do this, my flat-chested friend."

"Dill Brand"

"EEK!" The dark-haired sorceress-in-training cried out as the ground beneath her exploded upwards again. The dust settled to reveal her form was even more charred and twitchy. "You are so mean, Lina."

The redhead kneeled down next to the twitching girl. "Where does your family live, Nashigi?" The downed girl instantly sat up and began to describe the location as being in the northernmost part of the village of Edwinstowe in Nottinghamshire near Sherwood Forest. "Right, I got it." She said as she stood back up. "I'll come visit sometime during the break."

Turning around, Ranma walked up to her brother. He was standing around with his friends, Crabbe and Goyle. "Hey Draco, I sent a message to our parents a little while ago before we left on the train. I told them that I'd get us home." Her blue/red eyes looked towards the larger boys. "I imagine your families wanted you two to accompany Draco back home, and they would pick you up later, right?"

Goyle tried to think for a second. "Um… I'm not sure. I think so." He placed a hand on his head and tried to think a little harder. "Oh yeah," he drawled out, "I believe so." Crabbe thought for a second before nodding as well.

'Those two have always been a little on the dim side.' The cat-girl thought with a sigh. They weren't as stupid as most people thought, but they _**DID**_ have those moments. Shaking her head, she extended her arm with her hand facing palm down. "Lay your hands on top of mine and I'll teleport us there." As long as she had the image in her mind, and the place wasn't too far away, she would be able to teleport. The three boys looked at each other reluctantly before placing their hands on top of the redhead's. A second later, they were gone from the area.

Several students who were still around the area could only gawk. "Damn," a fifth year boy began, "it's almost like an apparition."

"Do you think she could get in trouble for that?" A fourth year girl asked. "I mean, she is only a first year student." That sparked a little discussion of interest. Since it was illegal for a witch or wizard to do anything like that until they were at least 17, would the Ministry try and do something about it?

"Well, I wouldn't want to be the ones who try and stop her." A boy said nervously. "She's real dangerous when she gets angry." That statement brought several nods of agreement.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Lucius Malfoy had to shake his head for a second as he watched his wife outside in the snow. For some reason, Narcissa felt to need to actually build a few snowmen out in the yard. Sometimes the woman could be so childish. He had to admit that she was very artistic at creating some of them though. Somehow, she had given a few of the snowmen human-like features instead of the normal round and shapeless forms.

Four of the snowmen were actually built in the likeness of him, Narcissa, Draco, and even their daughter. The blonde wizard had to hazard a guess and felt that the reason for this was that their children would be visiting for the holiday. He slightly wondered why anybody would want to spend their time out in the weather as cold as a seal's underbelly. The snobbish man would much rather spend it all inside next to their fireplace and thinking up plans for world domination. Ok, maybe world domination was not what he had plans for. A large bit of political unrest among the wizarding community would be better.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he watched as their children actually popped into view with those two friends of Draco's. The usually cold and calm father watched as his wife rushed up to the two and gave them both a large hug. 'I believe Draco is coming along nicely as a proper heir to the Malfoy line.' His eyes looked towards his daughter. 'I'm not so sure about Lina though. She doesn't really fit my ideals of a proper Malfoy, but she's completely independent with a bunch of strange and interesting abilities. What always got me was how she always seemed to be more aware of everything from the day she was born.'

Lucius had brought himself to think about that detail many times. The redhead would seem to understand what anyone around her was saying from the moment she had been born. He often pointed that out to his wife, but she would respond in saying that it was only because their little girl was special. The woman would constantly try and baby young Lina quite often. She knew several things she did -- dress the girl up like a doll, fuss with her hair, and all things similar -- got on the child's nerves at times, but she just didn't care. It was understandable though, since when she had become pregnant, she hoped the child would be a girl.

Narcissa had been the most reluctant to allow Lina to leave with that demon. Sure she had dreams of seeing the girl achieve great things, but to come to the conclusion of allowing the man take her daughter was hard. It took several moments, but Lucius had finally managed to get his wife to agree -- _**very reluctantly**_ -- to allow that Xellos to take and train her.

After the two had left, the woman had become slightly depressed over the decision and had retreated to their daughter's room for a little while before coming out. She put on an act of being completely fine, but Lucius knew her well enough to know that she was hurting greatly. Looking upon his depressed wife's face, he had felt bad himself for the decision.

Then their daughter came back just a few days later with some odd woman claiming to be a powerful witch. It was possible, but there was something odd about her. His blonde wife became terrified when she heard the story of what the demon had done to Lina. He too had become enraged over the fact that someone would actually harm a child of the Malfoy Family.

The cat ears and tail proved another thing that his wife had started to fawn over. She had even put a big red bow on the redhead's tail once. Narcissa had even been proud of her daughter for being able to overcome the fear of cats as she had. The woman loved cats greatly, and it had made her sad when they had found out about that little fear. After coming back, she had found her daughter to be even more special than the girl was before. Her darling daughter who had cute little cat features and small feline quirks at times.

What interested Lucius the most was Lina's abilities. The girl was able to fly without the need of a broomstick, although she could only do it for a few minutes. There was also that walking through objects trick, but it didn't work all the time. The same could be said for her odd little skill that was so similar to Apparition. She couldn't use them very well at that moment, but those skills amused the Malfoy patriarch.

Then there were the small spells she could do without even waving a bloody wand. She couldn't use too many at the time before getting exhausted. It had been odd to see his daughter's hair turn stark white after using too much of that magic. None-the-less, it was completely fantastic to see all those powers in the hands of a Malfoy. The girl's personality left something to be desired though.

"Hey pops!" A voice called that broke him out of his thoughts. Glancing down, he looked into the blue and red eyes of the very daughter he was thinking about. Those dual colored eyes of hers twinkled with mischievousness, rebelliousness, and humor as she said those words.

"Must you always call me in that disrespectful way, daughter?" What he wouldn't give for the girl to actually take him seriously more often. He _**WAS**_ her father after-all. Maybe she would have turned out differently if she had been around this place more often. Then again, she did visit quite frequently enough when living with that Washu woman.

"But grandpa," Laira began from the top of Ranma's head, "it's just momma's way of showing her affection for her family." The little cabbit then hopped up onto the blonde wizard's own head. "You can understand that, can't you?"

A sweat-drop formed on the Malfoy patriarch's head. The little creature always referred to Narcissa and himself as her grandparents. It felt completely weird to be referred to that by a rabbit and cat cross thingie, but it almost always threatened to crack his cold and uptight mask. "Perhaps, Laira." He stated simply with a slight smirk. "It is still quite barbaric though."

"Yeah, I love you to, pops." The redhead let out sarcastically with a roll of her eyes. The guy had ways of showing his affection for his family, but many people wouldn't be able to realize it. To the untrained eye, it would seem as if he treated his family like he did everyone else. It was different when the blonde wizard was out of the public eye though.

Lucius gave her a pat on the head as if she was a child -- ok, so she was currently a child. "As you should, daughter. I would appreciate it if you did show me a bit more respect." He gave a small shake to his head. "Never-mind about it right now though. I believe your mother is done fawning over your brother, and now has her sights set on you." The wealthy wizard gave a chuckle at the slightly pale look on the girl's face before he moved away from her and walked over to his son.

"So Draco," he began, "how exactly has school been going for you?" Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Crabbe and Goyle were helping themselves to a dish of candy. 'Those two would probably eat a cake off of the cold stone floor without checking first.'

As the Malfoy patriarch began to converse with his blonde child, Ranma was being fawned over by Narcissa. "How are you doing Lina?" She asked as she enveloped her daughter in a hug. "I've heard quite a few things about you gaining a few names for yourself at Hogwarts. Draco had explained about quite a few things in his letters home and just now. I'm a little disappointed that you never told me a few of those things in some of your own letters." Her face grew stern as she looked into her daughter's eyes.

"Well -- you see -- I -- ha-ha…" The redhead let out while scratching the back of her head. "I didn't think it was important at all."

"Constantly getting in trouble because of a short temper is not something that I would consider unimportant Little Missy." The blonde woman stated with her arms crossed. The stern expression melted away into a smile a few moments later. "I am happy that you are doing well in your classes and have some friends, but that Nashigi girl seems a bit crazy from what you've told me."

Ranma gave a small shrug. "She's not too bad. Slightly delusional, considers me a bit of a rival, and she has a laugh that could make a banshee run away in fright. Other than that, she's a good friend." The blonde woman gave a few blinks before dismissing it and noticing something on the girl's tail.

"What's this? It looks like a bow with a bell on it." Before the redhead could stop her, Narcissa grabbed a hold of the object with her hand and-- nothing. There had been no electric shock or anything. "I didn't think you'd like a thing such as this, Lina." With a quick motion, the blonde woman took the bell off to look at it closer. "I think this bow and bell suits you dear." The wealthy woman stated before tying it back onto her daughter's tail. Her eyes noticed a slight shocked look on the girl's expression. "What's wrong dear?"

The cat-girl looked towards the bell on her tail and cautiously touched a finger to it. She was expecting a shock from it, but nothing happened. 'Son of a bitch. Does this mean that I only got shocked that one time, and any other time I could have taken it off? Oh, Happosai is really going to pay for that. I'm going to mega brand his ass before treating him to a small beating the next time I see him.' Looking back towards her mother, Ranma shook her head. "It's nothing mom. Somebody tied that to my tail a couple months ago and told me that if I tried to remove it, I'd get shocked." Just how did the pervert manage to go about shocking her on that first ti-- Xellos…

"Well that's a silly thing to believe honey. You'd think you would have gone to somebody to make sure about it." Narcissa stated while barely containing a giggle. "I do think the bell and bow look good on you. You probably even got use to the small jingle to it as you move, haven't you?"

'Well, I have gotten used to the jingle. I'm able to cancel out the sounds if I'm careful.' She had even used the noise as a warning signal towards people at Hogwarts. Peeves ended up going on edge whenever he heard the small sound nearby. Watching the poltergeist glance around and try to find her while hearing the jingling was hilarious. The same went for anyone else who she wanted to put on guard. She'd also need it for when she confronted Happosai about it. Ah yes, have a little revenge on the pervert for this little stunt of his.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Well long time no see." The painting of Lina Inverse said as she greeted the younger redhead entering the room. "So how exactly has life at Hogwarts being treating you, Ranma?" She asked with a yawn.

Blue/red eyes looked in the painted sorceress's direction. "It's a bit on the boring side actually. Except for a small bit of random chaos every now and then, the place is really dull." In fact, the cat-girl wished the school would be a little more interesting. Like maybe… some escaped convict on the loose or something.

"So what has been going on in that place? I bet you ended up in Gryffindor or something, right?" Lina didn't know much about that magic school, but she had gained some details off of the paintings and residents of this mansion. She even had a couple other paintings scattered around in places that she could travel to.

"Actually, I was placed in Slytherin." The younger redhead received a confused look. "Yeah, I know. It's odd that it happened, but the sorting hat mentioned that I have many traits, and that the strongest of them pointed me towards Slytherin somehow." The cat-girl gave a small shrug about it. "It's not too bad. I do blame you a little bit though."

Lina looked a little huffy. "How could you blame me for anything? I'm just a painting and past life."

"Let's just say that a few of your quirks appeared and became apparent with me after entering that school. Hell, I almost lost myself to that terrible short temper of yours over a few minor details." The painting gave an indignant 'hey' in response. "Oh yes, and the students also learned of the wondrous connection between you and I. As such, I am slightly plagued by the nicknames that _**YOU**_ had, plus a few others."

The redhead in the painting gave a wince at the memory of some of those names. "What are the newer nicknames?"

"Red Cat of Slytherin, Minotaur Basher, Drunken Kitty -- this is due to a certain cat-nip curse incident I don't want to talk about --, Nightmare of the Forest -- the centaurs called me that --, and The Crimson Eyed Devil Girl Enshrouded in Flames." Ranma's blue/red eyes noticed the series of blinks she was receiving. "Yeah, I think I have the longest list of nicknames than anyone else in the history of the universe itself."

"No question about that." Lina mumbled

"Oh yes, and I found a couple of people who seem to be reincarnations of associates of yours in the past." This bit of information piqued the interest of the Inverse woman. "One of them is Nashigi. She's a couple years older than me, she's a little taller, has quite a large bust, and a laugh that could drive any normal person insane."

The woman of the past had become pale. "For the love of all that is right within this very world. You are not talking about who I think you are, are you?" At the cat-girl's slow nod, Lina put a hand to her head. "Well, at least she won't be calling you a rival, trying to challenge you, tagging along with you, and--" Her red eyes caught the look on the younger girl's face. "Damn"

"She also has a sister who's a year younger than me, is a little justice happy, loves getting up on high places, and is energetic." Ranma's face broke out into a smirk when the older redhead put a hand to her head. "Oh yes, and I think Gourry has a reincarnation as well." That sparked a reaction out of the Inverse woman.

"So what is jellyfish-for-brains like in this life? I bet he's still slightly dense and misses a lot of things." The voice seemed to hold quite a bit of emotion behind it, but the expression was one of humor.

The cat-girl's smile grew wider. "Actually, 'Gourry' is now a girl in this life." She had to hold in a laugh upon looking at Lina's reaction. "Gosaria does have moments of being a little slow and missing things, but it's not all that bad. Believe it or not, but I'm kind of like Gosaria's protector. I've had to save her a few times from her brother in this life, and I have to sometimes help when she's feeling a little depressed."

"So the protector is now the protectee, and he is now a she. I guess the latter makes sense. After-all, he did make a cute girl when we forced him into girl clothes in our adventures." Ranma was treated to the sight of an ageless redheaded sorceress in a painting falling down on her butt laughing.

'Well, I've never seen that reaction from her before.'

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Is so good to have Mistress Lina back." A house elf clothed in just a pillow-case stated with a bow towards the redheaded 11-year-old. "Does Mistress Lina require anything that Dobby can get?"

"Oh come on Dobby." Ranma stated with a slight sigh. "I've mentioned before that you don't have to be so submissive towards me. I'm not going to force you to do anything you don't want to do." It was apparent to her that the little house elf was very miserable here. She slightly wondered if she should just be sneaky and let him free, but the only problem was that the little elf had nowhere to go, and the cat-girl didn't know where freed house elves went.

Dobby gave another bow. "Mistress Lina is so kind, but Dobby must do what Dobby must. Not doing so would require him to punish himself again." The green-eyed elf showed the martial artist/sorceress his bandaged hands. "Dobby had to iron his hands this morning again."

"You did that again?" The redhead asked with sympathy in her voice. "Here, give me your hands." Taking hold of the brownish-skinned elf's hands, she closed her eyes. "Recovery." Within just a few moments, the creature's hands were fully healed. "There you go Dobby. Please don't try to punish yourself as much."

Tears appeared in his green eyes. "Mistress Lina is like a ray of sunshine in a valley of darkness." The elf stated as he gave the cat-girl a hug.

"Where are you Dobby? I want you to come here now!" The voice of Narcissa yelled from somewhere in the house. That caused Ranma to frown a bit. The woman could be so nice at times, but a complete bitch at another. Giving a look to where Dobby was, her dual-colored eyes noticed that he was gone.

'Jeez this sucks.' She thought to herself in annoyance. 'If I knew what truly happened to freed house elves, I'd give the guy what he wanted. With my luck, I'd do it and he would be out on the streets and die a lonely death or something.'

'I'm sure it'll all work out someway, momma.' Laira answered back through their connection. "Um… momma," the small cabbit began in a timid voice.

"What is it, Lai?"

'Not to be rude or anything, but when are we leaving this place? Grandma Narcissa keeps trying to groom me!!' The scarlet furred creature yelled with a whine. 'It's not funny momma.' She stated with an obvious pout. 'You know I hate having anybody groom and dress me up.'

'Well, I thought about staying here a couple more days, go visit Nashigi's family, and then head over to Japan.' The redhead stated while numbering off on her fingers. 'As much as I dislike how they are all a bunch of bigots, I still feel that the right thing to do would be to stay with them for a little while.'

'I guess that makes sense. Err… grandma Narcissa is finished with me, and said to come and show you my new appearance.' A split second later, Laira appeared before Ranma. The cat-girl took one look at the cabbit and fell onto her back laughing up a storm. "It's not funny momma!"

The tiny lavender-eyed creature was dressed in a baby blue gothic-lolita style dress and bonnet, and her ears had a couple of blue bows in them. "Where -- ha-ha -- did she get -- ha -- clothing that -- hee -- small?! You look like a little dress-up doll!" The 11-year-old couldn't help but continue to laugh at the absurdity of it.

Laira's pout turned into a smirk. "Before Grandma Narcissa finished, she mentioned that you need to learn to dress and act like a proper lady of high class." At that statement, the cat-girl paled before jumping to her feet, grabbing the cabbit, and fleeing through the ceiling just before the pale woman in question walked through the doorway.

"Now where did that daughter of mine go? We've put this off long enough."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma was curious as she watched her father examine some odd book that she had never seen before. "So pops, what is that torn up old book anyway?" The thing looked really old and worn out, and the redhead didn't know why the blonde man would be so interested in it.

Lucius glanced at his daughter for a moment before responding. "It's just an old diary, daughter. It belonged to a great wizard of long ago. He went by the name of Tom Marvolo Riddle. I'm just curious about an idea that I had a few moments ago."

"And what idea is that?" There was something odd about that book. It seemed to reek of dark and powerful magic, and there was something else she couldn't place. She didn't know what it was, but it sent shivers down her spine. 'Who is Tom Marvolo Riddle anyway?'

The Malfoy patriarch shook his head. "It's nothing you need to worry about, daughter. Besides, I'm not really sure how I'll go about even doing it at the moment." He put the diary back where it was and started to walk off -- pulling Ranma along with him. "I don't want you to go messing around with anything around here you don't understand. Some thing around here would be a bit dangerous if you didn't know what you were doing, and I also wouldn't want your mother angry at me if you were to get hurt. You understand?"

"Yeah, I understand. Hey pops, just who was Tom Marvolo Riddle?"

"He was a great and powerful wizard who knew the place of things within this world. He wanted to bring this world back to the way it was long ago. Where wizardry was kept within wizardry families, muggles knew their place, and all sorts of fantastic things. Tom Marvolo Riddle was Lord Voldemort, Lina." His pale eyes saw the look of surprise in his daughter's dual-colored eyes. "Do promise me that you will keep this secret. It would not be wise for the wrong people to catch wind of this."

'Just what are you planning with that thing?' The redhead thought with curiosity. "Ok, pops, I promise." 'At least until I figure out what's going on around here.'

The tall man ruffled the cat-girl's hair. "I am quite proud of you and your brother. You are both shaping up to be wonderful heirs in your own ways. You may have different ideals regarding people than the rest of us, but you handle yourself remarkably in certain situations that you are under. Lina, I would like to apologize greatly for allowing that… demon take you away. I was slightly clouded by my own desires, and so I didn't think about the implications of just what might have happened."

Ranma gave a wave of her hand. "Hey, don't worry about it pops. I'm fine, aren't I? There's no reason for you to worry about me, because I can handle myself." It was moments like this in which the cat-girl didn't even know what to think about her current family. They acted like complete and utter bigots, but they weren't all that bad _**IF**_ you could get past the fact that they apparently used to be supporters of a certain dark wizard. 'I wonder if they could just be misguided or something.' The thought brought her to a small discussion from eight years ago that she had had when she first saw a newborn Sakura.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx _**(Flashback: Eight Years Ago)**_

A three-year-old Ranma smiled at the child that lay in Nodoka's arms. It was a girl with tufts of black hair and red eyes. She didn't realize the woman in front of her had already given birth to the child about a week and a half ago until said woman came and visited the Masaki house with a different kind of bundle with her. "So what's the little squirt's name, mom?" It was very hard to not call the woman with auburn hair 'mom'. She technically was the redhead's mother in a way, but wasn't in another.

The older woman gave a smile. "Her name is Sakura Saotome. I know I'm not the best mother in the world," she gave a look to the cat-girl, "but I will at least try to do a better job. I'd like to think of it as a second chance."

A glare came from her former child. "I really _**DO**_ hope you do a better job, otherwise I'm going to take her and bring her here for the Masakis to raise." She would not let her sister -- well, cousin or half-sister. Whichever you want to think -- grow up to have a crappy life. If anybody even laid one hand on Sakura wrong, she would swoop down and beat their asses into the pavement. "I also hope one of things to better yourself on would be to not allow Genma to take her away from you."

A sweat-drop formed on the woman's head. "Don't worry about that, dear. I will not allow my husband to do that. I think Genma is planning on trying to teach her martial arts though. I told him that unless she shows any interest, he is not to teach her a thing of it. After I told him that, he started moaning about the future of the Saotome Anything Goes School being completely dead."

Katsuhito gave a small nod. "Yes, that man does need to learn a little more discipline. His honor, courage, and everything else were the greatest I'd ever seen, but then he started training under Happosai. That pervert did more harm to Genma than good." Ranma did a spit-take after hearing what the elderly Masaki had stated.

"You mean the man never used to be as greedy, gluttonous, lazy, cowardly, and what he is now?" At the man's nod, the redhead shook her head. "Just how does one completely change like that?" There was something else that occurred to her. "Hey, how is it that you know so much about Genma anyway, Katsuhito?"

The pony-tailed man sighed before looking right at her. "People can change, Ranma. One of the things about humans is that they can become corrupted easily if one provides the very thing that they desire. As for how I know Genma," he started to say. "The man is my son. Actually, he's my adopted son. He was left abandoned in the woods at age eight, and his parents were apparently killed by an unknown assailant. It must have been terrible for the boy. To see his parents just lying there motionless must have been bad. What's worse was that nobody could figure out why they died. It seemed like they just suddenly dropped dead."

Ranma sat there and blinked for a few moments. That seemed eerily familiar somehow. "I never knew that. I guess that was a really bad time for him."

"Yes it was, and he had no other family to care for him. I decided to take him in and raise him, since I didn't like the idea of sending him to an orphanage. He started to study martial arts so he could fight back against anybody who would try and harm the ones close to him. He felt that I couldn't help him in that desire, and so that lead him to becoming a student of Happosai -- a man who promised to make his desires of becoming a great martial artist true. You and many people can guess the results of it all, and to this day, I still don't know how he changed like that."

The redhead sat there as she scratched a sleeping Laira behind the ear. "So one wrong turn can lead you down a path that could end up spelling disaster?" At a saddened nod, she shook her head. "Well that completely sucks." If only Genma had never trained under Happosai in the first place…

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx _**(End flashback)**_

A smile appeared on Lucius's face. "That's what I like about you, daughter. You're strong and have a never-give-up attitude. With that, you will help lead the Malfoys into even greater heights than they are now." Removing his hand from the redhead, he began to walk off.

'They are headed down a dangerous path.' Ranma thought to herself as she watched her current father walk off. Her face became one of determination. 'I don't know how, but I will try and protect them from the consequences of it. I may not be able to help them at every turn, but I _**WILL**_ try.'

'Guardian Angel Momma to the rescue!' Laira shouted through their connection. 'All you need now is a pair of big feathery wings.'

'Uh, no thank you Lai. Being a cat-girl is enough. I don't need feathery wings to make me even more of an oddity than I already am.' The cat-girl's mind went on to think of an image of her descending from the sky with big fluttery wings. 'No, definitely not.'

"There you are young lady." The stern voice of a certain blonde woman announced from behind the redhead. "I've been looking all over for you." Narcissa grabbed the girl's hand.

'Damn it'

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Don't slouch when eating, honey." Narcissa reprimanded to her 11-year-old daughter. "Elbows off the table, and do not slurp your food. Take it slower when you eat. Eating slower will allow you to savor the flavor of your meal." They were currently having dinner, and the Malfoy matriarch had started reminding the redhead of the proper table manners that one must abide by.

"Yes mother." Ranma grumbled out as she began to eat at a snail's pace. She'd rather eat the way she always did, but the woman was right in being able to savor the flavor better. The blue-eyed woman had insisted on the cat-girl wearing an emerald green dress, stockings, and having her hair done up in a pony-tail with a big green bow tying it together.

"What was that tone of voice, young lady?" The woman asked with a look towards the blue/red-eyed girl.

"Nothing mum." She stated innocently. 'Jeez, why is it so hard to talk back to a mother when they get that look in their eyes?' The martial artist/sorceress thought to herself with a frown.

'I wonder the same thing when you give me _that look_momma.' Laira stated in an innocent voice. 'I guess it just has something to do with some sort of connection or something.'

'Possibly, but I'll never understand it no matter how much I try.' There was just something about it that irked the redhead. Giving a shrug, she looked towards Narcissa. "Mum, I'm thinking of leaving in a couple days to visit a friend of mine. Then I'm planning on heading over to Japan and spend some time with Washu." She saw a small look of sadness come to the woman's eyes.

"I would have liked it if you could have stayed with us for the whole break, but I understand that there are other people you would like to visit as well. It saddens me, but I'm glad I was able to see you again."

A frown came to Ranma. 'Damn it, I hate it when people are sad.' Her frown turned into a smile. "Don't worry mum. During the summer vacation, I'll stay and visit for a month. Even if Washu wants me to try and do certain things over that month, I'll refuse. You and I could spend a month together, and we could do anything that you want to do." She knew there would be some way that she'd regret it, but who cares. It'd make the woman happy.

Narcissa's eyes widened and began to sparkle. "You mean it Lina? You and I could spend the whole month together with no interference?" At her daughter's nod, the Malfoy woman jumped up from her seat and grabbed the redhead in a large hug. "Oh thank you honey."

"You are aware of how depressed mom gets when you leave, right sis?" Draco asked as a slight smile came to him. He hadn't seen his mom this happy in quite a while. "You have usually only visited for a few days -- 10 days at the most -- before leaving. Mum has always wished that you'd stay longer."

What Draco said had hit the redhead hard. The sudden thought of how Nodoka must have felt all those years ago had come to her. 'Just how much does it hurt Narcissa? To have a child who she hadn't spent all that much time with since said child was two? I never even thought of it like that. Jeez I'm such a thoughtless jerk.'

"Oh, I have so many ideas of what we could both do Lina. We'll make it a grand old month for just the two of us." Narcissa couldn't remember the last time that she had felt this excited.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I win again, sis." Draco stated with a smug expression on is face. The blonde boy had managed to convince Ranma to play another game of Wizard's Chess. "You really suck at this, don't you?"

A vein appeared on the redhead. "Hey, I beat you before."

"20 times ago. You always make one wrong and bad move that leads you to losing." It was a true statement, but the cat-girl always lasted longer in the game each time they played. It was almost like she learnt from a mistake and kept on perfecting until she managed to do it. "And that was a complete fluke. You know, I remember something father said a couple years ago."

"What would that be?" Why would he bring something up at a time like this?

"Father said that real life is a lot like chess. He who holds all the pieces controls it all. By strategically planning ahead, you can stay several steps in front of your opponent. Moving on a complete whim is likely to spell disaster, and one must have a clear and rational mind to do it. Keeping a calm and level head, knowing your opponents' personalities, and being able to think up something on the fly are helpful in this.." Draco began to set the pieces back up. "So, care to lose another game?"

Blue/red eyes deep in thought stared ahead into pale eyes. 'Hmm… that makes a lot of sense when you think about it. Maybe that's why a few certain people have always been able to stay one step ahead in certain situations.' After several moments of contemplating the info she had just heard, her eyes seemed to take on a cold and calm look. "Alright, let's play another game, Draco." The redhead stated while dipping into the Soul of Ice.

Her brother gave a smirk before fully setting the pieces back on the bored. The look in his sister's eyes, and the tone of voice she used seemed weird, but the blonde decided to write it off as her getting serious. Maybe this really would prove to be a challenge. "Since you have the white side, you go first."

Ranma stared at the board for a few moments before pointing to the pawn on the farthest right. "Pawn to h3." She received a small nod from the piece as it moved. It seemed weird how the pieces would destroy each other, but rebuild themselves after the game was over.

"Pawn to b6." Draco simply stated. That piece, too, moved to its spot. "You _**CAN**_ give up now if you'd like, and I'll spare you the humiliation." The boy said with a smirk.

"I don't give up." The cat-girl simply stated as she stared at the board. She still needed to get a feel for how her brother would go about his moves. "Pawn to e4." She wasn't sure how well she'd do, but did want to see the outcome of this.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"How did a game of chess take you two three hours to finish?" Narcissa asked with disbelief as she watched her two children with their heads flat on the table. Apparently the two had strained themselves to concentrate, and they had collapsed soon after they finished the game.

Draco lifted his head up to reveal eyes that seemed almost bloodshot. "I don't know. Ask Lina, she's the one who caused the game to go on so long. I never thought it would be over."

"Hee-hee," Ranma laughed softly, "Didn't I tell you that I'd beat you?" Holding the Soul of Ice that long had started to give her a bad headache. She would have to remember that having it going for that long was a bad idea. "Jeez my head hurts."

"Well one would think so." The Malfoy matriarch stated with a frown. "I think you two should hurry up and get to bed. It's late, and you two need some sleep to get rid of your exhaustion from playing chess." The blue-eyed woman scratched her head at that statement and began to walk off. "I've never heard of being exhausted due to playing a small game of chess."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Hey Lina," Crabbe began, "Do you have any Merlin or Circe cards from Chocolate Frogs?" The large boy asked curiously. It was the next day, and Goyle and he had come to visit Draco for the day again. "I'm missing a Merlin card, and Goyle's missing a Circe."

"Let me see if I have any." Ranma answered as she took the stack of cards she had been keeping in her hidden weapons space. Eating quite a few chocolate frogs tended to cause the cards to stack up. "Let's see here. Ah, here you two go." The redhead stated as she handed the cards to them.

Goyle gave her a large pat on the back. "You're a great help Lina. Now we have an entire set." The taller of the two thought for a moment. "At least until they release more cards." Like many, they hated when new cards were added. It made them think they needed to collect those too.

The cat-girl gave a wave of her hand. "Don't mention it. I have no real need for the cards, so they just pile up. I don't see why--" She was interrupted from what she was about to say when Narcissa called out to her.

"Lina, there's someone who would like to speak with you." Ranma could almost sense that she wasn't happy about something, but didn't understand why. The woman then let some guy pass. Her blue/red eyes rose at the look of the man's outfit. A pinstriped cloak, lime green bowler hat, and purple boots are not something that any normal person would wear.

"Ah, Lina Malfoy," he began with a kind smile, "I've been meaning to meet with your for a while. My name's Cornelius Fudge, and I'm the Minister of Magic of Great Britain." He held out a hand to shake hers.

"Um… pleased to meet you, Mr. Fudge." The redhead stated with a bit of wariness to her. Just why did this guy want to talk with her? "So what did I do?" There would be no other reason for the head honcho of the magical world here in the UK to want to speak with her personally.

The man cleared his throat. "I am here, Miss Malfoy, to talk to you about your underage apparition that I've heard about."

"My what?"

"Your ability to apparate and disapparate without a license." A frown came to him when the redhead continued to look on in confusion. "Magically teleporting." Once she understood, he continued. "You see, apparition is illegal for anyone under the age of 17 to do, and even then you need a license. I'm afraid that I must ask you to stop doing what you are doing. Otherwise you could risk a serious proble--" He was interrupted when the cat-girl raised her hand.

"I'm not going to stop." Ranma simply said. She wasn't even using magic to do it anyway. Why should she have to stop doing something that she had been doing for nine years without someone telling her not to? The Ministry appeared to be slow.

Fudge became a bit confused with the sudden refusal. "Miss Malfoy, should I repeat myself about the dangers of --"

"Listen up old man." The minister became a little annoyed at being referred with such disrespect. "I am not doing this appari-whatsis thing. I am teleporting through my own ability, and I have been doing it for almost nine years. What's more, it's not even magic. This means your Ministry has no jurisdiction over me being allowed to do it or not."

The oddly dressed man was attempting to keep his cool. "Then what," he asked, "is it if it's not magic?" It was the only possible thing it could be, and he had never heard of other forms of teleportation other than magic.

A mischievous smile came to the martial artist/sorceress. "That…" she disappeared and appeared floating next to the Minister's head. "…is a secret." The action caused the man to nearly jump out of his skin. "All you need to know is that…" she disappeared again and re-appeared a few feet away and floating cross-legged. "…it is not magic. Neither is my flying ability, but I _**COULD**_ use magic for it instead."

"I see." Fudge stated reluctantly before clearing his throat again. "Well onto the next line of business. Are you also aware that while outside of Hogwarts, underage students are not allowed to use magic due to--"

"Can't comply with that either, Fudgey." Ranma casually stated.

"Lina, don't show so much disrespect towards the Minister." Narcissa chided towards her redheaded daughter. She didn't care much for the current Minister, but it wouldn't do to show such an attitude towards him.

"Sorry about that mum." The cat-girl replied sheepishly before looking towards an obviously enraged Fudge. "Let me ask you something Minister. Do you think I could give up using magic after using it for nine years? I've been using it since I was two, and nobody has attempted to stop me. I _**MIGHT**_ have given it a thought if you weren't so demanding of it."

"If you don't comply with this law, then you will be expelled from Hogwarts, your wand will be confiscated and broken, and you will be forbidden from using magic of any kind." The girl in front of him was really getting under his skin.

Ranma began to scratch her head in annoyance. The guy was really starting to get under her skin. 'These idiots are going to possibly try and hound me to no end.' She thought to herself before looking back at the man. "There's a few things wrong with all that, Minister. One: I don't need a wand to use magic. Two: If it comes to it, I'll renounce even being a part of your stupid Ministry, and there'd be nothing you could do to stop me." Her eyes turned completely crimson. "With just one spell, I could reduce your stupid ministry to a smoking crater." That was mostly a bluff. She wouldn't really do that and risk harming countless innocents. "And lastly, there's reason number three that I should mention. I never originally wanted to attend Hogwarts, but Dumbledore convinced me to. He mentioned I could put my abilities to greater use if I received a full education from Hogwarts."

"D -- Dumbledore?" Fudge asked with a slight frown. "W -- well I'll have to take this up with him then." Looking into those crimson-colored eyes, Cornelius Fudge felt that if he attempted to do anything at this time, he would be victim of some terrible consequences. If she really did have a spell that could reduce the whole ministry to a smoking crater, then that would not be a person you'd want to be an enemy of. It would probably be better to keep her on your side. 'I should play it safe for now. We could always re-visit this discussion later. I really will have to speak with Albus about this girl then.'

Putting on a false smile, he tipped his bowler in her direction. "I see perfectly well now, Miss Malfoy. I will be on my way then." Turning around, he made his way out of the place with one thought in mind. 'This isn't over.'

'Why do I fell that this whole thing isn't over?' The cat-girl asked herself with a frown. Nobody could change that quick. A small slap to the back of the head brought her out of her thoughts. Looking towards the reason, she gulped when her eyes caught sight of the slight look on her mother's face.

Narcissa grabbed the redhead by her shoulders and looked her right in the eyes. "Do you realize how bad that could have turned out? You could have been in serious trouble with that attitude. The Ministry is not an establishment that one could oppose the laws of without problems."

"Come on mum, I'll be fine. I just couldn't stand that guy trying to blatantly order me around like that." She suddenly found herself in a hug.

"I just don't want to lose another family member to Azkaban, or worse. It hurt when my sister Bellatrix was sent there, and then there was the death of my cousin, Regulus." The blonde woman began to sob a bit, leaving Ranma to feel bad for how she had just acted.

'Damn it'

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma watched out the window as the snow gently fell towards the ground. A slight shiver attacked her as she thought about the coldness of it all. Today she would be leaving to visit Nashigi, and then it would be off to Japan for the Masaki house. Narcissa wanted her to wait a little while before leaving. She mentioned something about giving her something before the redhead left.

Laira was sitting on the window sill and blowing her breath against the window to fog it up. The little cabbit had then used her paw to start drawing images on the window. One of the images was of a cookie with chocolate chips. At least that's what the little creature said it would be. To the cat-girl, it looked more like a circle with holes in it. That statement caused the lavender-eyed creature to give a pout.

"Sorry about that Lai." Ranma said while scratching the creature's head. Laira gave a smile and stuck her tongue out in response. "Now that's just disrespectful." The redhead stated in humor.

"Well I _**DO**_ take after you, momma." The little cabbit let out with an innocent smile. "After-all, Grandma Washu did use a few of your cells and genetic material to create me."

"Dang 20,000-year-old scientist and her genetic experimentations." The redhead grumbled out under her breath. "I still say it would have been better if she asked me first instead of just going ahead without my knowledge." The whole fact still annoyed her to this day.

Her 'daughter' jumped into her arms. "Aw come on, you know you love me." Laira said with big eyes in an 'I'm so innocent and cute that I could give you cavities' look. "You know, I wonder if I'll ever be able to transform into a couple of humanoid forms like Ryo-ohki. That would be so much fun. Then I could walk and hold things like a human."

The conversation was cut short when they sensed someone enter the room. Turning around, they caught sight of Narcissa standing near the doorway with a bag in her hands. "Lina," she began, "Your father and I wanted to give you a few presents before you left, but I expect you to wait until Christmas to open them. It wouldn't be right to open them before then." The blonde woman handed the cat-girl the bag that contained a few gifts. "I want to give you another present before you leave."

Before Ranma could say anything, the Malfoy matriarch wrapped something around her. Blinking, the redhead looked at what it was to see that it was a winter scarf. It was an emerald green color with a red yarn ball motif. "I haven't knitted anything in a few years, but I've still got it." The woman stated with a small wink. "Oh, there's something else I want to give you, dear." She held out her hand and gave the redhead something.

Looking into her hand, the cat-girl saw that it was some kind of necklace with a marble sized golden-colored rock attached to it. "What's this?" For some reason, it seemed familiar.

"It's a gift that was given to Lina Inverse long ago, and it has been past down since then. It's a piece of orichalcum, and was supposedly charmed with a small amount of magical protection. I would like you to have it, Lina." Narcissa finished with a smile.

'Magical protection? It seems familiar for some reason.' Giving a mental shrug, the redhead put it away for safe keeping along with the bag she was given. The action of the items disappearing still confused the blonde woman on how her child was able to do something like that. "Thanks for the things mom."

"It's too bad your father had to meet with the other governors of Hogwarts today. I'm sure he would have liked to see you off as well."

"That's alright, mum. You can tell him I said bye." Ranma motioned for Laira to hop in her arms after putting on her fleece-nit hat and jacked. "I'll see you again during the summer, mom."

"I'll be waiting, dear." She watched as the cat-girl virtually vanished from her sight. "I still wish I could figure out how she does that."

"You always seem the happiest when you are thinking of your children, especially Lina." A voice from one of the paintings in the room commented. Narcissa glanced over to see Lina Inverse sitting in a chair in one of the paintings. The woman had actually knocked the inhabitant of the painting out of his chair and took it. The guy even began to hell obscenities at the older redhead. "Do you mind? I'm having a conversation here. Unless you'd like a fireball shoved down your throat?" The Inverse asked the man in a sweet voice, which caused him to gulp and sulk off.

"It's just that I don't get to spend as much time as I'd like with her. There's so much I missed out on, and there's also so much that she's keeping from me." She made a small shake of her head before looking directly at her painted ancestor. "I know for a fact that she tells you most of the stuff that has happened with her, but she doesn't let me in on it. Almost as if it's all one big secret that I shouldn't know for some reason."

The crimson-eyed woman in the painting let loose a sigh. "Narcissa, there are many things she doesn't want you to know. This is mostly because she doesn't know how you would react to it all. I believe she would like it a lot to let you know, to have another person to be able to know the real her. It's just that there's a high possibility of you betraying her."

"Lina, I'd never betray my own daughter." Even if the girl had no problem with hang around muggles, she just couldn't find it in her to hate her daughter. "I swear that there is no way I will ever hate my little girl."

The painting shook her head with a frown. "That's a big promise on your part, Narcissa. I can not give you any details, because it is not my place to do that. If you wish to know, try and get the girl to talk to you in private. Maybe that month she said you two could spend together could be the right time."

"I really hope so." The Malfoy matriarch stated under her breath. 'Just what kind of secret is she hiding?'

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The calm and snowy area in the northern part of Edwinstowe near Sherwood Forest had been undisturbed, except for a small kitten that was lost in the fluffy white powder. The little kitten had gotten out of its home and lost in the cold. It would have turned around and went back, but it had moved too far and couldn't remember where it had come from.

/Why did I ignore mommy and decide to explore on my own?/ The tiny feline looked around for anything that could provide it with warmth. /Just where am I?/ It asked slightly frightened. Its large eyes widened when the area it was looking at suddenly gained a figure from out of nowhere. /W -- who are you?/

The figure looked like a human bundled up for the winter, but there was something odd about her. Behind what she thought was a human girl, was a tail that was swishing around with a small bell on it. /What are you doing out in the cold? Are you lost?/ The ability for the person to speak cat shocked her.

/Y -- yes, I'm lost. I didn't listen to my mommy and snuck out of the house. I wanted to follow one of the members of the family of humans who keep us. I think her name is Amy or something./ The kitten was suddenly picked up in the arms of the stranger. Her big eyes also noticed another creature poking its head out from under the hat the human girl wore.

/You're in luck, pipsqueak./ The redhead stated with a twinkle in her eyes. /It just so happens that I might be headed to the same place. Now which way was it that you came from?/ The kitten gave a point with her paw in the direction she remembered. /Well, let's get going then./

Moving along the path way -- she could still see the impressions in the snow -- of where the kitten had come from, Ranma's eyes finally saw a large and nice house with a small wall surrounding it. Moving towards it, the cat-girl was interrupted from her walk from someone talking.

"Beware evil doer!" Looking around, the martial artist/sorceress blinked before looking upwards to see a young girl standing on a tree branch. "Who dares to kidnap a kitten of the law abiding Rosa family? I, the great Amy Lynn Rosa shall punish you in the name of justice!" The redhead gave a half-lidded stare to the dark-haired girl in the tree. "HYAA!" The girl shouted as she jumped from the branch and headed towards the redhead. Giving a sigh, Ranma stepped out of the way and watched as the girl named Amy landed painfully on the ground.

"Um -- hey -- you alright?" The cat-girl asked as she began poking the downed crazed girl with a stick. The supposed defender of justice instantly jumped to her feet. "Oh good, I didn't want to have to help you as well."

The blue-eyed girl pointed in her direction. "Don't try to fool me you fiend. I see you holding our young and defenseless kitten. By the name of--"

"Uh, yeah… I rescued this little girl after I found her wandering in the snow. I was in the middle of bringing her back home when you went all crazy on me." Some old memories were starting to surface after meeting this crazy girl.

Amy's eyes widened. "Then you are a fellow follower of justice. Rescuing a small kitten shows your bravery and will to do good deeds. I am sorry that I misjudged you." The girl gave a small bow. "I am Amy Lynn Rosa; the flowering white rose of justice."

A sweat-drop formed on Ranma's head. "I'm Lina Malfoy, and I'm a friend of--"

"Ah! I heard about you from my sister. I've actually wanted to meet you for a while. It's good to finally meet you, Miss Lina." The use of that honorific brought a few more imbedded memories to the surface.

'Why did I decide to come and visit?' The redhead asked herself with a sigh as the younger girl had begun to drag her towards the entrance to the house. It wasn't long before she found herself on the other side of the wall. The area had a nice large yard and plenty of decorations that went into it. There was, however, a lone gnome walking around. An evil smirk came to her as she cast a small fireball that knocked the creature into unconsciousness. The things were evil and vicious for looking the way they did.

Upon entering the house, they were greeted by a house elf that seemed fully happy and healthy with doing her job. "There you are Miss Amy!" she cried happily with a bow. "Oh, Miss Amy also has a guest?"

The girl nodded. "Yes she is, Ginger." Amy answered back with a large smile. "This is Miss Lina, and she saved Sarah from getting too lost in the snow." The house elf gave a smile and bow towards Ranma before leaving the area.

'It's nice to see other happy house elves.' The redhead thought with a smile. The kitten in her arms wiggled and jumped out and onto the floor. Turning a catty smile towards her, the kitten named Sarah made her way away from the area.

"Oohohohohohohohooo!" The cat-girl -- as well as Laira under her hat -- cringed at the sound of the laugh before turning her head to see Nashigi. "I didn't think I'd be seeing you so soon, my great rival. I see that you met my younger sister already." The older girl stated as she looked towards the younger Rosa sibling.

The youngest girl gave a vigorous nod. "I made the mistake of confusing Miss Lina for being evil and stealing a kitten. Just because she looks a little like a meanie, doesn't mean she is." The statement caused Ranma to do a face-fault onto the floor. "But her heart burns with the wonders of justice itself!"

'Yeah, I shouldn't have come.'

'But momma, it could be fun.' Laira answered back with a giggle.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After meeting the parents of Amy and Nashigi, Ranma was under the impression that they were all completely whacko. Their father -- William Parcel Rosa -- was a large man with a big and bushy mustache and slightly spiky hair. All in all… he looked like a large oversized dwarf. The guy stated that an ancestor of his came from royalty -- before the major disaster that supposedly killed millions of people and began to stunt the magical ability of people. That disaster sounded familiar for some reason.

The Rosa kids' mother -- Felicia Maria Rosa -- was a piece of work herself. She was a witch, but ended up getting interested in muggle law enforcement. As such, she had become a police officer for the area of Edwinstowe. Now it kind of made a little sense for part of Amy's justice obsession. Their father also had a thing for justice as well.

One thing that spooked Ranma to the core was that the woman's laugh was exactly the same as Nashigi's. It was explained that William's mother had actually taught Felicia how to laugh that way. Being in the middle of the two Rosa women laughing like that could be murder on someone's psyche.

One of the more interesting things about the family was that since Felicia was well versed with the goings-on in the muggle world, they actually had a Television set and computer. It was quite odd to know, since the vast majority of the wizarding world probably wouldn't even understand what half of the technology was.

"Will you quit pulling on my ears, Amy?" The redhead asked in annoyance. She did believe that the girl was a reincarnation of Amelia, but this girl seemed a little more energetic. Maybe it had to do with age or something.

"They're just so cute, Miss Lina!" Amy whined as she played with the furry protrusions some more. "Oh, Miss Lina? What house do you think I'd be put in when I go to Hogwarts next year?" The dark-haired younger girl managed a pose. "With my courage, bravery, and sense of justice, I believe I am destined for Gryffindor!"

A half-lidded stare came from the cat-girl. "You seem more like someone who'd belong in Hufflepuff." A slight pout came from the younger Rosa sibling.

"You really think so?"

"Well -- who knows where you'll be put. The hat works in mysterious ways." There was a small bump against her feet. Looking down, she saw the little kitten she saved earlier with a small ball in front of her. /What's with the ball, pipsqueak?/ The redhead began to pick it up.

/It's a toy, Lina. I'd like it if you would play with me. I'm not sure what they call it though./ The kitten's eyes watched as Ranma examined it. /I think they called it a cat-nip toy./

"Ack!" The redhead yelled as she jumped back and dropped the ball. "Cat-nip doesn't exactly agree with me. If you ask the residents of Hogwarts, they could tell you horror stories about its effect on me."

"Actually, I found it all quite amusing." Nashigi stated as she walked into the room with a slightly evil smirk on her face. The taller girl walked over to the ball and picked it up. "Come on Lina, I want to see what the effects of just a little bit would have on you."

Raising a finger, the redhead glared at her rival/friend as she walked towards her with the ball in hand. "I'm warning you Nashigi. Get any closer, and you'll be sorry." The older Rosa sibling gave a small shrug as she continued to advance, even when the cat-girl readied a pair of ki claws.

The large-busted girl gave a small giggle. "I think it'll help you unwind. You _**ARE**_ always a little on the alert, and you need just a little time to relax." The two stared at each other, daring each to make the first move. Nashigi with a ball that contained cat-nip, and Ranma with her hands glowing with ki. "Freeze Bullet" The dark-haired girl whispered as a small sphere of ice flew from her hand and hit the redhead in the arm.

"Ok, that was just dirty." The cat-girl growled out as she dodged a lunge from the taller girl. Using her feet, she tripped her opponent up and knocked the girl to the floor. The ball came loose out of the blue-eyed girl's hand and rolled under a couch. Putting a hand to her arm, the redhead used a little fireball to melt the ice.

It was at that moment that Felicia entered the room and looked at her downed daughter. "With those slow reflexes, you'll never hope to put one over on your rival, dear." Helping the girl up, she gave a smile. "You'll beat her someday though. You _**ARE**_ a Rosa after-all, and we never give up." A smile came to the older woman's face. "Your victory will be realized one day!"

"That's right!" Amy yelled with a fist in the air. "Those who put all their heart into what they want to achieve will be rewarded for their hard work. That is the way justice works, and will always work!"

"HA-HA! That's my daughter!" William announced as he appeared behind the youngest Rosa and ruffled her hair. "Evil shall never prevail against the hard-working. Justice is with us! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!" The father and daughter both made a pose, while the other daughter and mother let off their banshee-like laugh.

"Oohohohohohohohooo!!!"

Ranma clutched her head as this went on. "That's it, I'm out of here!" She grabbed hold of Laira and made a quick retreat via teleportation. Coming to this house again meant suicide to her sanity, and that was definitely not a good thing at all. The redhead truly hoped these people had soundproof walls or something.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

On the outskirts of Edwinstowe, a redhead and cabbit were shivering not due to the cold, but due to a certain family of nut-cases that they had just visited. "That entire family is impossible to take in at one time." Ranma stated with wide eyes.

"They were scary, momma." Laira stated as a shiver ran up her spine. She had thought Nashigi was bad, and now that she met the whole Rosa family…

Shaking the experience off, the cat-girl looked down at her 'daughter'. "Are you ready to head for Japan, Lai?" At the creature's vigorous nod, Ranma smiled. "Well let's just see how good you can fly in spaceship mode on the way there."

Eyes sparkling in joy, Laira hopped out of the arms of her 'mother' and gave a tiny salute. Turning around, she hopped into the air and began to morph. She had also activated a cloaking device so that only the redhead standing right near her could see. The aforementioned redhead couldn't help but give a small smile at seeing at seeing the form. It wasn't often that the cabbit transformed into her ship form -- for obvious reasons. Although it was also currently late evening and cloudy, which also meant even more cover above the clouds if they needed.

Laira's ship form was a pale red, and she didn't have as many spikes as Ryo-ohki's spaceship form did. Her main ship body was a little wider and rounder than the other cabbit's as well. In comparison, her form looked a little like a stereotypical UFO, but with spikes, as well as one big spike that extended downwards.

With one quick motion, Ranma vanished and reappeared aboard the bridge of the ship. The aforementioned bridge's interior consisted of a circular room with windows on all sides to show what was going on outside. There was also, curiously, emerald green carpeting. "I don't remember the carpeting from last time."

A small crystal with Laira's face appeared in front of her. There was a slight blush on her face "Well… I kind of snooped through a carpet store almost a year ago while you were sleeping. I saw the lovely green carpet and -- you know." The cabbit flinched a little when the redhead gave her _**The Look**_.

"You decided to just outright add it to your spaceship form. You effectively stole it from a store."

"I -- I'm sorry." The face stated softly with her eyes lowered.

"Just don't do it again, Lai." Ranma said simply while patting the top of the crystal. "I'll over-look it this time, but if this should happen again, we are going to have a long talk." Moving backwards a bit, she sat down in a small chair that appeared out of nowhere. "Now, let's see you fly."

Laira's face instantly brightened and turned into a look of determination. "I won't let you down, momma!" The face on the crystal vanished before the crystal itself floated away. A couple moments later, the ship started to vibrate a little before starting off in the direction of Japan.

"Alright Lai, you're doing great!" The cat-girl announced with a bit of pride behind her voice. "Let's keep the cloaking field on, and go at a slow pace and enjoy the scenery." She added as she watched the trees, and towns go by under them from the view-screen in front of her. This was absolutely exciting.

"Oh, what a nice and comfy interior Laira has." The voice caused Ranma to turn around in her seat to see Xellos looking around in wonder. "It looks like Laira can fly quite well, Ranma."

A slight frown came to the redhead. "What are you doing here, Xellos?" She didn't expect to see the mazouku again this soon.

"No reason at all. I was just curious to see what the interior of Laira's ship form looked like. I didn't expect it to be this interesting to be on a spaceship. This is indeed a new experience for me." The trickster replied.

"Ah yes, I've been meaning to talk to you about something." The cat-girl began with a half-lidded stare. "You were the one who caused the electric shock when I tried to remove the bow a couple months ago, aren't you?"

Xellos tilted his head. "Why yes, I supposed you could say that I did do that. It was all Happosai's idea. Washu had no part at all in the idea of the bow and bell, and she never even knew about it. It was all a cruel little joke implemented by Happosai, and it worked quite we--" A fist suddenly belted him upside the head. "That was rather rude of you, Ranma." He waved off the glare he had received. "I'm actually surprised that you never even noticed that the shock didn't work after that."

That peaked the girl's interest. "What do you mean?"

One of Xellos's eyes opened as he gave a smirk. "Well let's see here. If the bow would shock you every time you touched it, then wouldn't you have constantly been shocked while you slept or something? Even other people who touched it would have gotten shocked." Ranma gave a small nod in realization. "Then when you wash your tail while taking a bath, you would also have gotten shocked if it really did shock you. Even Gosaria would have gotten shocked during those few times you asked her to wash your tail since it was hard for you to do."

"Yeah, I suppose that does ma -- what a fracking minute. How do you know about me washing my tail? And to an even greater extent, how do you know about Gosaria sometimes helping me with it? Do you freaking spy on the girls' bathing areas?!" The redhead asked as she became a little green. "You really are a damn pedophile."

A look of indignation appeared on the demon's face. "I am not a pedophile, Ranma. I am simply listening in on conversations to gather information that may be of interest to a grander scheme of amusement."

"No, you like little children." The redhead stated with a frown. "So, why exactly are you here?"

"That… is a secret."

"I figured as much." A feral smirk appeared on her face before announcing to Laira. "Lai, activate sound clip #44: Mazouku Torture." After a confirmation from the cabbit ship, Xellos was suddenly filled with terrible pain.

"_**I love you, you love me. We're a happy family, with a great big hug and a kiss from me to you. Won't you say you lo**_--_**"**_

"Please -- stop." The demon said as he clutched his head in pain. "I only stopped by because I was curious as to what the inside of a spaceship looked like. Then I was going to go to Juuban and meet with somebody. I can't tell you who it is, but I have an important meeting."

Ranma gave a glance towards him for a second before shrugging. "That's fair enough. You can end the sound clip now Lai." A small thought then crossed her mind. "Maybe I'll make a stop off at Juuban as well. The ice cream parlor I like to visit is over there. Lai, plot a course for Azabu Juuban."

"Gotcha Momma." The voice echoing around the bridge stated as she entered the coordinates. Xellos just gave a minor shrug before vanishing from the area himself. "I think uncle Xellos is up to something."

"You're probably right Lai." The redhead stated as she sat back in the chair and watched the scenery fly by. "I don't really give a care about what that demon is doing at the moment though." She stated with wave of her hand as they continued onto Juuban for some ice cream.

xxA.Nxx

Ok, this chapter is turning into a real doozy. Biggest. Freaking. Chapter. Yet. I actually decided to split it up into two chapters because it's so large.

The next chapter will have a small trip to Juuban, a visit to the Masaki home, and a little expedition to the Moon for Ranma.


	14. The Moon is Out Tonight

Wild Magic

Ranma 1/2, Slayers, and any other series used in this fanfic are owned by their respective creators/publishers/whatever

Thanks to CyberSkaarj and people of fukufics for pre-reading

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Chapter 14

It was a small and very dimly lit bar that rested within a more secluded area of Juuban. It was the kind of place that catered to a slightly more 'mysterious' and 'dangerous' crowd. Quite a few small-time gang members, a few people of the Yakuza, and various other organizations preferred the place for its secrecy. The owner didn't care what went on as long as it wasn't something that would lead to damages to his precious bar. It was his precious, and he'd be damned before he would let anybody harm at least one table. The ire of this man was so great that even the small-time gangs, Yakuza, and various others feared him, and they had no clue why.

The barkeep has no true importance to this story, however -- there was an indignant 'hey' from said barkeep. Instead, let's visit one of the tables in the darkest part of the room. The figure sitting with her back to the wall was nearly indiscernible of every feature, except for the fact that this figure was obviously female with long hair and an obvious figure. Nothing else could be seen very well due to the darkness of her choice of seating. There seemed to also be a slight air of boredom surrounding the woman as she took a quick drink of the contents of her glass.

Her head perked up suddenly at the feeling of a presence that had appeared through the front entrance of the bar. Her eyes watched as an oddly dressed man made his way towards her area with an almost glide in his step. A few people -- including the unimportant barkeep - another indignant 'hey' -- glanced up for a moment before going back to their normal business. From their experience, someone as oddly dressed as this guy was not a person to be messed with. The last oddly dressed person they messed with had -- no, it's too horrible to tell. Let's just say that it was a very bad thing that caused many to not be able to sleep for days.

"You're late, Xellos." The woman stated in a low voice. Of course, she knew that there'd be a possibility of that. The purple-haired mazouku had found a person to torment and tease.

"Well, you know. I got lost while on the road to enlightenment, and then I had to stave off a group of ravenous gummy bears who wanted to mount my head on their walls. The outcome was messy, but it was also tasty at the same time." Xellos finished as he popped a gummy into his mouth. "You'd think the Plane of the Damned Gummies would have realized who I was by now."

The woman shook her head. "They aren't exactly the smartest demonic creatures in existence." Reaching for something to the side of her, she pulled out an envelope. "I'm certain that you have been curious as to why you were put in charge of watching the Wild Horse?"

"Well, it has crossed my mind for the last few years." The mazouku stated as he tapped his chin. "I mostly just thought I was given a little free time to bug her. I'll admit that she is a lot more amusing to toy around with than Lina ever was." A frown graced his features for a second. "However, her choice of revenge is not something I'm too fond off." His ears were still slightly ringing from what had happened on the bridge of Laira's ship form. "It's not often when one would be able to see you mingling with people. One would usually find you in your regular secluded spot."

"Hey, even I have to be around people once in a while. Besides, I like this little bar." The figure in shadows chuckled out. Placing the envelope onto the table, she pushed it towards the man in front of her. "This will explain what you need to know. It took a while to understand the true purpose of what our '_**friend'**_ is planning to do. We lost many good spies in the process. Of course, it's still several years before it'll come into play."

Xellos shook his head. "He always was one for patience and biding his time." His eyes scanned the information a little more. "Oh, it looks like they've started to take an interest in young Ranma as well." How they figured it all out so fast was beyond him. "It looks like fun times will be ahead for her. I've heard her complain a few times that it's been too boring lately."

"You'd think she would have learned by now that whenever she thinks that, then something is bound to blow up in her face." The woman stated as she shook her head. "Well, at least it will keep her on her toes and prepare her a little."

Her companion gave a nod. "Well, if that's all there is too this meeting, then I'll be off. I have a craving for some ice cream, and I don't want to be around when Ranma gets here. For some reason, I feel as if she might be carrying her torture with her." Turning around, he began to walk off, but not before noticing a large man -- obviously drunk -- walking up to the seated woman.

"Say babe, would ya like to go to a nice place with me? I c'n show ya a very good time." The alcohol on his breath caused the woman's eyes to narrow. "Aw, c'mon babe." He said as he reached for the woman's arm. He didn't anticipate her grabbing onto him and tossing him into a barstool.

"Damn it you big ape! You destroyed my precious barstool!" The barkeep yelled as he leapt over the counter and proceeded to chase the guy with a butcher knife in one hand, and a shotgun in the other. "Get back here and face your punishment like a man!"

Xellos blinked for a moment before turning towards his former sitting companion. "I can see why you enjoy this place. There does seem to be a nice bit of excitement when the right thing happens."

"Actually, I just like the drinks this place has to offer."

"Whatever you say, but I think we all know the truth."

"Xellos, shut up."

"Yes, Beastmaster Zelas."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It wasn't '_**too'**_ long before Ranma and Laira entered the clear morning skies above Juuban. "Lai, let's drop off in the alley between those two buildings." The cat-girl said as she stifled a yawn. They had decided to fly slowly towards Japan to enjoy the scenery, and doing that took about five hours. It would usually be around 1AM at the Malfoy estate, but it was around mid morning here in Juuban. "I think I'm going to be feeling the effects of jet-lag."

After landing back on the ground, Ranma -- with Laira in her arms -- exited the small alley and looked around. Spotting the small ice cream shop across the street, she made her way towards it. "Would you like any ice cream, Lai?"

"No thank you, momma. It'll make me feel too cold in this weather." The cabbit stated with a shiver before climbing into the redhead's shirt. A small laugh escaped said redhead as she walked into the establishment. It was a good thing she still had some yen on her.

The elderly man behind the counter spotted her and gave a large smile. "Ah, welcome back Lina. I haven't seen you around in a while." The redhead gave a smile towards the guy.

"Hey, old man," she simply stated, "I haven't been around lately because I'm going to some boarding school in the UK." The guy had owned this little ice cream parlor since she first came here with Washu nine years ago to meet with Nodoka.

The gray-haired man gave a chuckle. "That's sure a long ways to go for schooling, but I'm sure you manage real well. So, is this just a pleasure trip, or are you here for a little ice cream?"

A smirk played across the cat-girl's face. "For ice cream of course." She began to take a look at the menu. There were many flavors that she wanted to try, but one in particular had caught her eye. "I'll have the cookies & cream, old man."

"Coming right up." The man said as he pulled out a large ice cream cone. Ranma watched the man fill up the cone, but became distracted when a small hand pulled on her clothes. Looking towards the source, the cat-girl saw a small girl of around eight-years-old. Her hair was blonde and done up in an odango style with pigtails.

"I like your cat ears." The little girl stated with sparkles in her eyes. A friend of hers had mentioned something about a family member having cat ears and a tail, but she figured it was just a joke. "Are you related to Sakura Saotome?"

The redhead had to give a small smile. Since Hogwarts, she had decided to screw the idea of trying to hide her cat features. If people reacted weird, then so be it. She had ways of making them see the light. "I take it you're her friend I've heard about?"

"I'm Usagi Tsukino!" The blonde stated with a bright smile. She then blinked when a small tail with a bell on it waved in front of her face. "So cute!!" She squealed as she watched the tail move. Ranma had to refrain from laughing at the girl's antics.

"Usagi," a voice began, "quit bothering the nice girl and come over to eat your ice cream." A woman with long blue hair sternly called towards the small girl. Ikuko was slightly put-off by the sight of the cat features on the young girl her daughter was talking to, but once she noticed that the girl seemed friendly -- and she was related to a friend of her daughter's -- the wariness went away. Usagi gave a pout, but ran towards her mom while waving towards the redhead.

Giving a small wave of her own hand, the cat-girl paid for her ice cream and made her way out of the parlor. Enjoying her ice cream, she stopped in her walking for a moment. As she was standing there, someone collided into her. The young martial artist/sorceress fell forward onto her hands and knees, and Laira managed to hang on due to being inside of Ranma's shirt. Her dual-colored eyes watched as her lovely ice cream fell splat on the ground. Giving a growl, she glanced around to glare at the one responsible. The person who had just shattered her desire for ice cream was a teenager with a short hair-cut and shades. He seemed to be of Chinese descent with slightly paled skin and an air of superiority about him.

"Watch where you're goin', ya foo'!" The teenaged boy stated with a frown as he looked towards the downed girl. "Some people are walkin' here. It no good fo' you to bump into them. Now take yo' cat butt an' get outta here."

The redhead jumped to her feet and glared at the boy. "You're the one who bumped into me, you punk! You committed the ultimate sin: making me drop my ice cream."

"Oh boo hoo. The poor little cat girl is mad over a little ice cream." The teenager gave a flick of his finger against her ear. "What's da kitty goin' ta do to me?"

As Ranma was about to go into action, a little voice made itself known. "E -- Excuse me; please don't be mean to the lady." The two turned around to see a small girl of almost six-years-old with short black hair and purple eyes. She looked a little nervous as she held onto the hand of a woman who appeared to be her mother.

"Whatever, dis isn't worth it. So long kitty cat." The boy said as he began strutting off down the walkway. This left an angered redhead with nothing to vent her annoyance on, and so she swore that if she ever met him again, he'd pay.

"Your hand is bleeding." The little girl timidly stated while pointing to the aforementioned hand. Looking towards her hand, Ranma gave a small smile and used a recovery spell to heal it. Her blue/red eyes then watched as the girl's purple ones lit up in awe. "You can heal ouchies as well?" The almost six-year-old girl asked.

"See Hotaru?" The girl's mother stated with a smile. "You're not so different. There are other people with special talents." Keiko smiled at the sudden happiness that seemed to swell up within her daughter. The girl was always shy due to her healing ability causing people to look at her oddly.

The young girl nodded vigorously before she ran up to the cat-girl and grabbed her hand. "My name's Hotaru Tomoe! What is your name, cat-lady?" She was positively excited that there were other people who were just as different -- if not more -- than her.

Ranma tapped her chin for a second before giving a wide smile. Getting down to one knee, she whispered into the girl's ear. "My name is Ranma, but that is ultra top secret information. If the wrong people knew that, then I'd be in trouble. Can you keep that information completely secret?" Purple eyes narrowed in determination as the younger girl nodded. The thought of being trusted with something so secret made her feel happy. "That's good to know, Hotaru-chan. Now, the not-so-secret name you can refer to me as is Lina Malfoy. That is my codename. Just think of me as a kind of spy or ninja working for the greater good."

The young raven-haired girl's purple eyes began to sparkle. "You can count on me, Lina-neechan!" The cat-girl blinked at the 'neechan' part, but she decided to shake it off. There was something about this girl that she liked. "Can you come and play some games with me, Lina-neechan?!"

"Not right now, but I promise that I'll come back sometime later." She saw the look of sadness in the younger girl's eyes. Giving a small smile, she reached into a pocket and pulled out a gold galleon. The child's eyes widened at the pretty golden object that Ranma had put into her hands. "Take very good care of that, Hotaru-chan. If you are ever in serious trouble, I'll know, and I'll come and help you." The little girl closed her hand over it and nodded.

"Could you help me with the bullies, Lina-neechan?" Hotaru asked with a hopeful look in her eyes. "People are always picking on me."

"Then they're just a bunch of idiots then." The cat-girl stated with a frown. "Picking on such an adorable little girl should be a crime. I bet you'll grow up and knock their socks off, Hotaru-chan." A slight blush appeared on the raven-haired child's cheeks at the compliment. "If they pick on you, then they shouldn't be worth your time. You have one friend right here, and I'm probably better than all of them combined." Laira rolled her eyes at the slight ego of her 'mother', and Hotaru giggled at what was just said. "See, that happiness right there is what makes you cute. Don't let a bunch of idiots get to you. You hear me?"

The young girl nodded vigorously. "I think I know what you're talking about, Lina-neechan." There was another look of determination in her purple eyes as she clutched the galleon in her hand. "I can do it, and I'll make you proud of me!" She didn't know if she could do it, but she could try.

Ranma gave a smile. "I have to leave now, but I'll see you again soon, Hotaru-chan." The redhead shocked the young girl and her mother by disappearing into thin air.

"Wow, she really is a ninja!" Hotaru shouted with wide eyes as she tried to look around for wherever the cat-girl went. "That was so cool!" Not finding any traces of her new friend, she looked slightly disappointed, but brightened before turning around and getting back to her mother. As the two walked off, they didn't notice a pair of dual-colored eyes watching them from the top of a building.

"She's a cute kid." The 11-year-old stated. "It's a shame about her being bullied though." Hopefully the little speech would have at least 'some' effect on the girl, but she wasn't holding her breath.

Laira poked her head out of the cat-girl's shirt. "Can we hurry up and get going to the Masaki home now, mama?" She hated having to stay hidden within the martial artist/sorceress's clothing. It would get too cold if she got out, but it was too cramped on the inside of the clothing as well.

Ranma rolled her eyes at the impatience, but nodded her head. "Alright, let's go." A moment later, the top of the building was once again vacant.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma and Laira appeared outside the Masaki home a few seconds later. Looking around, they noticed it was a little on the calm side, which was kind of unusual in itself, since usually you could hear the small sounds of chaos. Ayeka and Ryoko constantly arguing -- you'd think they'd realize that was the reason why Tenchi hadn't picked anybody yet, -- Washu's inventions going crazy, Mihoshi causing problems, various extraterrestrial beings coming and going for various reason. No, it was unusually calm at the moment. "It's good to see you again, Ranma." A voice stated from nearby. Turning her head, the redhead gave a small smile at a familiar face.

"Hey, Katsuhito." She greeted with a wave. "So how's the senile old Shinto priest of the Masaki shrine doing lately?" The redhead asked with a smirk. She knew the guy was far from being old or senile.

The man put a hand to his head. "Oh, I'm getting on in years, Ranma, and my mind isn't what it used to be. I'm not even sure what I came out here for."

"That's what happens when you are over 700-years-old. The first thing to go is the mind, although maybe that was already long gone." The cat-girl received a small whack upside the head. "Well it sure isn't your strength that's dwindled over the years."

A chuckle escaped from the pony-tailed priest. "Enough of this banter against a poor old man in his golden years. Laira had already sent a message a couple days ago about you arriving." That statement caused Ranma to glance down at the cabbit.

"You really were excited about leaving then, weren't you?" A blush appeared on the aforementioned cabbit's face as she nodded. "So that means everyone is expecting me, doesn't it?" At Katsuhito's nod, she gave a small curse. "And I wanted to surprise them all too." With a slight grumble, the redhead walked up to the door of the Masaki home and gave a small knock.

After a small wait, the door slowly opened to reveal Sasami. In nine years, the blue-haired girl had gained a few inches and was now around 5'1", although it seemed that once she hit around 18, her aging process slowed. "Good morning Ranma-chan. It's good to see you again." The older girl said with a smile. "Please come on in." The younger princess stepped away from the door so the cat-girl could enter.

"Thanks Sasami-chan." Ranma stated back with a smile of her own. "How's the merging with Tsunami going?" For the past couple of years, the Juraian princess's merging with the goddess was working in overtime. The merging process was slow for one reason: There was the possibility of it harming the girl if it went to fast. It would be like trying to fill a water balloon with more than it could contain.

"It's not too bad, but I sometimes get slight headaches because of it. It's not fun when your head suddenly starts pounding due to sudden bursts of knowledge and other certain things." The girl finished with a hand to her head. "It's good to know that I'm not the only one who has problems like this."

The redhead grimaced at the thought. "Yeah, it's not all that fun of an experience to go through." She recalled several times in which she had to go through the same thing for obvious reasons, and she still didn't have all the memories from Lina's time. Shaking her head free of the thought, the cat-girl looked back towards the older girl. "It seems a little too quiet around here, Sasami."

"That's because most of the house is still a sleep, and please don't jinx it. There was already a big mess two days ago due to an invention of Washu's going on the fritz and Ayeka and Ryoko fully at each other's throats." She did not want to have that much excitement again for a few days. She could see the slight disappointment in the younger girl's eyes at missing the carnage. "By the way, Ranma-chan, you have some guests here who have been waiting since two days ago for you to arrive as well." At the blank look on the redhead's face, the blue-haired girl elaborated further. "Akane, Kasumi, Nodoka, and Sakura are here to see you."

Ranma's eyes lit up at that small bit of information. It really did seem like a long time since she last saw any of them, and it was amazing how the secret about her being Ranma managed to still stay limited to just those four -- as well as Ryoga and Akari. Taking her first step into the Masaki home after quite a while, the young redhead followed Sasami as they made their way towards the living room. As soon as the martial artist/sorceress stepped into view, a small blur collided into her and sent her and Laira sprawling on the floor.

"RANMA-NEECHAN!" The smaller form of Sakura shouted as she clung to the currently floored cat-girl. "Can you show me some more magic tricks? Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease?" The young raven-haired girl asked as she held her older relative tightly in a vice-like grip.

"Sakura, get off!" The girl with blue/red eyes shouted as she struggled for several moments before the younger girl finally let go. Standing up, the redhead was grabbed in another hug by Sakura. Giving a sigh, she returned the hug. "So you want to see a little magic, Sakura-chan?" At the girl's nod, the cat-girl held out her hand with her palm up. A moment later, a ball of wind was thrashing about within her palm. Pulling out a small piece of paper, she stuck it in her hand. The paper then began to dance around within the wind before being shot into the air and shredded by the air current. "Was that enough for now?" The younger gave another nod. "So where's mom?"

"I'm right here." A voice commented. Turning her head, Ranma saw the auburn-haired woman standing near the entrance to the kitchen. Nine years hadn't affected her too much. There were a couple of visible wrinkles on her face, and there was a slightly gray tint to her hair. "Kasumi and I are helping Sasami a little in the kitchen."

Another voice drifted from the kitchen. "I still don't know why I can't help. You know I've gotten better after all these years." The young redhead could recognize the voice that belonged to Akane. "My cooking no longer has the effect of nuclear waste."

A smirk found its way onto the cat-girl's face as she walked towards the kitchen. "True, but it still has the effect of five-year-old limburger cheese. That means it's still up in the running for the worst biological weapon award-- ow!" She shouted as a fist hit her upside the head. "Well, it's the truth. I don't see how you can deny that." The dual-eyed girl looked up onto the face of her former fiancée. "Hey, nice wrinkles-- ow!"

"I _**DO NOT**_ have wrinkles you little brat. Just because some of us can't go through a second childhood…" The dark-haired woman grumbled out. The youngest daughter of Soun had grown a couple more inches within the last nine-years, and her features had matured a little more. She had even decided to grow her hair out again and wear it in a high pony-tail. "At least I've been able to mature. You are apparently still stuck as the little jerk that you used to be."

Ranma crossed her arms as an infuriating smirk crossed her face. "Better an immature brat than an old hag of a tomboy." She dodged another fist and stuck out her tongue. "Oh come on, don't tell me that's all you have these days. Whatever happened to the energetic tomboy we all knew and love?"

"Something tells me that you've never received enough spankings growing up around here. What say we rectify that problem right now?" The older woman asked with an evil glint in her eye as she watched the redhead back up a little.

"Nuh-uh, keep those hands away from my posterior." The cat-girl stated with a shake of her head. "You have your own child to punish, so wait for her to do something bad. I really do hope you've gotten her tantrums under control, Akane."

"Yuzuya does not throw tantrums, Ranma." Akane stated with a frown. It was five years ago that she had actually found someone that she fell in love with. The guy -- Takuya -- had a personality that seemed to bring balance to the younger Tendo Daughter. For some reason, he seemed to always manage to calm her down whenever she let her temper get the better of her, although she wasn't quite as short tempered and violent as she used to be. Age can often do wonders in helping someone grow up mentally.

A snort found its way out of Ranma's nose. "Tell that to my tail. The last time I met her, she threw a massive tantrum and started pulling on my tail. I do hope we're not going to have another 'Akane' in the making." The young child was four-years-old and had a set of lungs that could make a blue whale green with envy. "It's a miracle that my ears fully recovered."

The dark-haired woman opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by her sister. "Ranma's right, I'm afraid. You do spoil Yuzuya a little too much." Kasumi stated with a slight frown. "You need to set a little more discipline every now and then. Just look how well behaved my children are." The brown-haired woman said as she gave a greeting to the young cat-girl.

The difference of nine years didn't seem to affect the oldest Tendo daughter as much as everyone else. She still looked the same, but more mature, and she still carried herself with an air of serene grace. Her hair traveled down her back in a couple of tight-woven braids, and at the end of both were a pair of small bows. "It's hard to believe as well, considering who their father is." Akane grumbled out.

"Yeah, I would have never figured that you would fall in love with him, Kasumi." Ranma added with a shake of her head. "I mean, it goes against all logic that we ever knew back then." It must have been the work of some miracle or something.

Kasumi shook her head. "Now Ranma, he only needed a step in the right direction. I also believe that I helped him remarkably in that aspect. After he got past his problem, he became a great man that I wouldn't trade for the entire world. I swear the man has magic hands or something." The very thought sent shivers down Ranma and Akane's spine.

The younger sister shook her hand. "You can keep him for all I care. I just can't believe that you and Tatewaki Kuno fell in love. Hell, I can't believe you managed to help him get through his delusions. I can understand why he calls you his 'Angelic Savior'." Her sister had stated to this day that all the man ever needed was the full love of a woman to set him fully straight in mind. The man still had minor lapses into delusions, but they were mostly controllable. Kodachi also still worked on her potions and poisons, but she had managed to achieve a job as a chemist, and now called herself the 'Black Rose of Chemistry'. It was… quite a scary thing if you thought about it.

Kasumi and Tatewaki had also been married for about eight years, and they had a pair of seven-year-old twins named Ai and Daisuke. The former could be found spending her time drawing and painting, while the latter contained an interest in learning music. He seemed especially fond of the flute.

"Say mom," Ranma began as she turned to look at Nodoka, "How's pops been doing. He hasn't been a jerk or anything to Sakura, has he?" She still preferred to call the older woman 'mom'. It was due to the fact that she still considered her to be just that.

The auburn-haired woman shook her head. "Actually, my husband has become quite over-protective of Sakura. When the fact that she has no true interest in martial arts finally hit him around two months ago, it put him into a slight funk. One day when Sakura came home with a large bruise on her face because of another kid at school, she ran straight to Genma." A smile came to the Saotome matriarch's face. "When Genma found out, he came out of his funk and attempted to comfort her. He then almost marched out of the house to wring the neck of the one who did it to our daughter."

Ranma blinked at that information. "That does not sound like the old man at all. Whatever happened to the lazy and greedy panda?"

"He's still lazy and greedy, dear. He would still prefer to stay around the house all day, take the easy way out, and jump at any chance to make a fast yen. None of that has changed at all. However, he is very protective of Sakura and loves her greatly. In fact, he told me just a month ago that he would break through the gates of Hell itself to keep her safe." The older woman knelt down and scooped the raven-haired eight-year-old up into a hug.

The young cat-girl crossed her arms and snorted. "Feh, I wish he would have thought the same about _**ME**_ when I was growing up." Her dual-colored eyes looked down at her half-sister's crimson ones. "You're lucky that you don't have to go through the same crap that I did when I was your age." A contemplative look appeared on the martial artist/sorceress's features. "Make that when I was your age both times. It was hell living on the road with pops, and it was also hell putting up with Washu's crazy ideas and crackpot inventions."

"Who's crazy ideas and crackpot inventions?" A frosty voice asked from behind the young redhead. The aforementioned redhead stiffened and slowly turned around to see the one who she was just talking about. The half-lidded stare didn't look too inviting at all, and the crossed arms weren't pleasing either. "Who exactly are we talking about in this discussion, Ranma-_**chan**_?"

Ranma waved her hands in front of her as a sweat-drop appeared. "Aw c'mon Washu-chan. You know I was just joking about that. I mean, your ideas and inventions aren't _**THAT**_ crazy." If looks could kill, she'd be six-feet-under already. "C'mon Washu-chan, is that anyway to treat your best student who has just come back after a few months away? I'm hurt."

"My best student? You're my _**ONLY**_ student, kiddo." Her green eyes noticed the slight pout on the young cat-girl. "You are my greatest side project though. Maybe I should make you my heir-- no, that's a bad idea. You don't have nearly enough common sense and maturity to make that work." She ignored the indignant 'hey' from her student and put a hand on the girl's head. "You still seem to be a little on the short side."

"And you're a great example for all that you just listed?" The dual-eyed girl asked with a raised eyebrow. "That's funny, because I've never noticed any real common sense when you get lost in your crazy inventions." One could almost feel the air chill as the two redheads glared at each other as if they were sizing the other up. "For being over 20,000-years-old, you aren't exactly a shining ray of maturity that you're trying to make yourself out to be right now either."

Everyone started to move slowly away from the two who seemed to almost bring the temperature of the room to a frosty -30 degrees. Washu made a move by reaching over and grabbing the young cat-girl by the collar of her top. Her green eyes hardened and stared into a pair of equally hard blue/red eyes. "I see that Hogwarts hasn't robbed you of your cocky little cheek." The voice was in a low whisper.

"Only the best for you, Washu-baasan." There would have been a few chuckles if it wasn't for the fact that everyone seemed to be slightly on edge from the feelings coming from the teacher and pupil. "In fact, we have a few months of catching up to do."

An evil chuckle escaped from the scientific genius as she continued to glare coldly. "I believe we do, Ranma-chan." The cold feeling between the two seemed to increase continually, and then all of a sudden, it vanished. "It's been too boring around here without you to teach, Ranma!" The 20,000-year-old redhead shouted joyfully as she grabbed her student into a hug. "I never thought I'd see the day when I'd miss having your rude little ass near me."

"What can I say? I leave that kind of impression with people, Washu-chan. I also can't believe I missed your overbearing and eccentric behavior. Hogwarts is just too damn boring as well, and without the constant excitement that I get around here, my temper was being tested terribly." The younger redhead finished while scratching the back of her head.

"I think I remember hearing about that during that Halloween fiasco when I locked your abilities." Washu received an intense glare from her pupil and had the decency to look sheepish. "I'm glad the old guy decided to put his foot down and have the school handle your punishments. From what you've told me about what happened during that week, it would seem that Hogwarts would be too dangerous of a place to do that again." It was easier to do around the Masaki home and whenever Washu was with the young cat-girl, but not anywhere else. The genius hadn't realized that at the time.

A snort made its way out of Ranma's nose. "You got that right. A poltergeist, a death attempt, and several other things that could have did me in with just a moment's notice. Who could have guessed that I'd be so popular?" As the two continued to converse with each other as if they were close friends, the assembled group of people could only stare in shock. The two redheads had been ready to tear each other's heads off one second, but had become friendly and started chatting up a storm the next. "Do you realize how hard it is for me to concentrate on both your studies and my Hogwarts' ones, Washu-chan? Homework is boring enough as is, and I don't need all those damn books piled on as well."

The genius proceeded to pat her student on the head. "Remember what I've said many times: The path to learning is a road that never sleeps. Only those who work at it shall reap the rewards, and those who have the mind power can win against many opponents." The emerald-eyed genius raised an eyebrow. "You still seem to prefer to act first and think later though." It seemed as if no matter how many times the younger girl read and learnt something new, she never seemed to try and put it to use. However, there were random moments when the former Saotome felt the need to actually invent something. The worst part of it all was that she had no clue what she was doing as she was doing it.

The cat-girl grumbled for a moment before directing her full attention back towards her teacher. "Washu-chan, I'm not going to do any studying during the first month of the summer vacation when it starts." The redheaded extraterrestrial stared at her and started to go on about how she couldn't shirk her learning just because she wanted to goof off. "Washu-chan, I'm going to spend that whole month with Narcissa. The reason I was a couple days later in coming here than what I planned was because I learned of how much it hurts her to know that she hardly gets to spend time with me. And so," the dual-eyed girl stated as she turned her head a little, "I promised that we'd spend the whole first month of my summer vacation together. I even went so far as to tell her that I'll do anything that she'd want me to do. I'll probably regret it in the end, but I couldn't stand to see her sad."

That caused everyone to stare at the martial artist/sorceress. "I never thought I'd see the day. The Shrimp is actually taking someone else's feelings into complete consideration." Ranma turned around to see Ryoko hanging upside down with a smirk on her face. "Does this mean that the great Ranma is turning into a mommy's girl?" The masu asked in a taunting voice. This caused the younger masu's eyes to narrow and a growl to escape from her throat. "Oh, did I strike a nerve there, Shrimp?"

A hand found its way onto the cat-girl's shoulder. Turning around, her eyes caught sight of Washu. "You realize how much this will set our learning schedule back?" The scientific genius asked as she looked into the eyes of the shorter redhead. All she could see was a complete look of uncaring and defiance glaring back at her, and that caused a smile to break out. "We'll just have to pick it up after your little break. At least _**SOMEONE**_ here is able to treat their mother with thought and respect." Green eyes turned to glare at a certain cyan-haired ex-space pirate. Said ex-space pirate began to sweat a little before she teleported away.

"I always treat others with respect, Washu-chan." Ranma stated with her eyes twinkling. She shrugged off the looks she began to receive and turned to look at her former birth mother. "Say mom, how long are you all going to be here?"

The auburn haired woman gave a sad smile. "I'm afraid we'll be leaving to get back to Nerima tomorrow, dear." She noticed the look on the young redhead's face. "It was thought that you'd arrive two days ago, and so that's when we got here."

"Yeah, we didn't expect you to actually feel guilty about leaving Narcissa so soon. I mean, it goes against how you always were." Akane said with a small smile to lighten her former fiancé's mood. "Maybe a second childhood was a good thing after-all. You don't seem to be as much of the inconsiderate jerk as you used to be." The dark-haired woman finished with a laugh as she poked the cat-girl's nose.

"At least I won't be growing old for quite a while, tomboy-- Hey!" She stated as she rubbed the back of her head from the small slap she received. "At least you grew out of using blunt weapons to vent your anger." The former Saotome commented with a weak smile. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Tenchi started walking down the stairs. This was followed by the usual confrontation between a certain two women. 'I still wonder why they haven't learned to cooperate. Tenchi can take on more than one girl due to being Juraian royalty, right?' Blue/red eyes then watched as the young Masaki's eyes gazed a little at Sasami. 'Those to better learn to work together, otherwise their competition may get a little fierce.' Damn she loved this place. There was never a dull moment, and it was the closest thing she could consider home. It could do without the constant near-total destruction of the house though. She had lost count how many times that it had happened in the past.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Two different masu glared at each other. One was a cat-girl with blue/red eyes and red hair, and the other was an ex-space pirate with cyan-colored hair and gold-colored eyes. Both of them were deep in concentration as they tried to defeat the other. They each had two wins, and they had decided to keep going until the other couldn't go any further. They didn't care how long it took, because each was determined to come out victorious in the end. "Why don't you just give up, Shrimp? You know you can't beat me at all."

"Feh, says you. We both know that you're just an Old Mummy, and as an Old Mummy, you're bound to collapse anytime soon." Her response had the inclusion of a trademark infuriating smirk that always seemed to get under her opponent's skin. "Just because I've been stuck in a castle for a few months does not mean that I have lost my edge."

"I don't know, Shrimp. You do seem a little rusty at this video game. I remember how you use to be lightning fast with the combinations, but now you are a wee bit slower than you used to be. It's kind of sad, really." The golden-eyed woman stated as she landed an incredible combo onto her opponent which knocked the character backwards. "At least I'll be able to have a few more wins under my belt."

She received a glare from her opponent. "We're going to see if you improved in your physical abilities after we get done with the game. I bet you've only been sitting around and drinking your sake." The two shared a look before turning their attention back to the video game they were playing. "Ha, I beat you!" Another smirk appeared on her face. "Would you like to play another round?"

"Yeah, and I'll show you this time!" The ex-space pirate announced as she got ready. "Say Shrimp, what is that castle you're staying at like anyway? I've heard something about it lacking electronics of any kind, and how the entire place runs on mostly magic." It sounded weird to not have any technology of any kind.

A frown appeared on her opponent's face. "The place is boring as all hell. Sure, I've found a few secret passages, had someone try to kill me a few times, ran into a three-headed dog, been attacked by a tree, scared an almost entire forest of monsters when I was under the influence of a cat-nip curse--"

"Wait, under the influence of a cat-nip curse? What is that supposed to mean?" A confused Ryoko asked as she had her character dodge a punch combo that would have really done her in. "Are you telling me that cat-nip works on you? How bad is the effect?"

"Remember that one time where you got so drunk on sake, and Washu completely forbid you from drinking even a drop for a month due to the outcome of it all?" She saw the older masu's nod. "You could say it was similar to that." The woman became slightly pale. "Now I kind of know what you must feel like when you're drunk. I was running around the castle like a crazy cat, chasing students like they were mice, toying around with a tree that tried to squish me, communicating with a slurred speech, running into the Forbidden Forest, mentally scarring several vicious monsters, and earning the nicknames Drunken Kitty -- by the students -- and Nightmare of the Forest -- by the centaurs, giant spiders, and several other beasts. It's all a little hazy, but I think I met and gave a werewolf a run for its money."

"Damn Shrimp," Ryoko began with a whistle, "remind everyone around here to never bring cat-nip anywhere around you. It's amazing that we never even found this out. What was the outcome at the castle with the cat-nip?"

A catty grin met her question. "The Cat-nip curse and cat-nip itself is absolutely, and without question, forbidden. If anybody brings even an ounce of cat-nip into the school, they will get a 30 day detention for the first offense. For the second offense, they receive and automatic expulsion. Of course, they can try and appeal it, and if it was an accident that they had it, then the charges would be dropped. Charges dropped for new students who didn't know of the rule as well." It was amusing how Dumbledore had said that he would add that rule to the list of things that would need to be addressed at the beginning of the new school years. It wasn't everyday that somebody got to be immortalized in something like that.

"I really wish I could have been there to see it." A grin of her own appeared on Ryoko's face. "Hey, maybe we could have some fun here and--"

"Try it, and I'll slice off more than just your hand. You'll find your innards on the outside instead of the inside." The cat-girl threatened with a cold glare towards her companion. "The headache I received from that cat-nip episode was not something I'd like to experience again."

The ex-space pirate glanced at the younger masu for a moment. Finally, she gave a smirk. "Alright, I'll help you keep away from cat-nip from now on, Shrimp. I may be missing something amusing, but I can tell that it's something you never want to experience again."

That slightly shocked Ranma, but she had to smile at that. "Thanks, Ryoko."

"Anytime, Ranma."

"Ha, I beat you again!"

"Damn you, Shrimp."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma didn't think it would, but playing that video game against Ryoko had taken nearly the whole day. Now, since it was late evening, she glanced around the small room that had belonged to her for almost nine years. Thanks to Washu's ability to expand the inside of the house and create 'portable rooms' with just the use of 'special pocket doors', there was never a real shortage of rooms and guest rooms. This was a good thing when you had guests arriving at odd times from various areas of the universe. It just wouldn't do to have a complete shortage of places to sleep.

The young redhead's room consisted of books-- lots and lots of books. This was mostly due to Washu's insisting on her reading about things every now and then. Of course, there weren't just books on scientific knowledge and all that similar crap. There were books that contained magic and martial arts abilities from around the universe. There were also various manga, DVDs, music, video games, and other forms of leisure activities.

Her attention was suddenly centered on a small area of her desk. On the area, there was a photo of both Sakura and her. The younger seemed to look up to the cat-girl for some odd reason that nobody could figure out. She would always follow Ranma around whenever the two were together, and it seemed as if she would try to mimic everything except for martial arts. The raven-haired child seemed to have just a minimal interest in it, and she didn't want to practice. The girl had an uncanny artistic ability though. The tiny stuffed doll that resembled the dual-eyed martial artist/sorceress could attest to that. The younger had made it one day during her art class, and Ranma became shocked when the information had hit her.

A sigh escaped the former Saotome as she slipped under the covers on her bed. Just like Nodoka said about Genma, she, too, was completely protective over her younger 'sister'. There was some feeling that just screamed out for her to protect the raven-haired child, and the feeling had always been there. It had started the day her 'sister' was born, and Ayeka had gone on to say that the feeling was the kind that an older sibling naturally has for the younger. There was a minor link there that connected the two, and no matter how much a pair of siblings could like or dislike each other, there was always the need to help if the other truly needed it. Sakura and she may not have been siblings in the legal sense, but they were siblings at a deeper level.

As she lay there in her bed with Laira comfortably on her chest, her ears could make out the sound of her door creaking open. Casting out her senses, she could tell that it was Sakura coming into her room. As Nodoka had mentioned earlier, they would be leaving tomorrow, and so they were spending another night here. Akane and Kasumi were in one of the rooms, while Sakura and the auburn-haired woman were in the other. The only reason the raven-haired child would be coming into her room would be--

"Ranma-neechan…" The young Saotome girl called out timidly. Ranma turned her head to get a look of her 'sister'. The crimson-eyed eight-year-old was dragging a teddy bear in one hand, and rubbing sleep out of her eye with the other. From what the cat-girl's senses could tell, the girl was slightly scared and nervous.

"What is it, Sakura?" The redhead asked curiously. Glancing at her 'sister', the martial artist/sorceress could see that the girl was having trouble getting out what she wanted to say. "You want to know if you can sleep with me tonight, don't you?" The cat-girl finally asked, and she could see the hopeful look in the younger's eyes. "Well, come on. I don't have all night you know."

The second child of Nodoka gave a small squeal before running and jumping onto the bed next to the one she considered an older sister. Covering up with the blanket and cuddling her teddy bear close, Sakura laid her head on Ranma's arm and pulled herself close. Looking down at the little girl, the 11-year-old turned her head and closed her eyes to catch some sleep. "Ranma-neechan," or so she thought.

"Yes, Sakura?" Her 'sister' still seemed to be slightly scared and nervous. "Is there something wrong?"

The younger was silent for several moments before she started to open her mouth. "I've been having some scary dreams, Ranma-neechan." That caused the cat-girl to turn her head and look down at the crimson-eyed child. "They're just so weird and scary." It almost looked as if there were some tears at the edge of her eyes.

The Hogwarts student stared at the girl for a few moments before responding again. "You can tell me what they are about, Sakura. I'll listen and try to help scare the dreams away. After-all, no kind of bad dream can stand up to the great power of Ranma." She smiled when the girl giggled a little.

"Well, I'm not really sure what the bad dreams are really about. I know that they involve some mean woman named Luna or something." She didn't notice the slight wince on her bedmate's face. "The woman is always punishing a little girl named Lina for things that don't seem so bad. One time the little girl accidentally broke a plate, and the woman tied her up and locked her in a closet for two days." The eight-year-old missed the pale look. "The little girl wanted to play one time and tossed water on the woman while she seemed to be busy. That woman then did some kind of water punishment afterwards." Her crimson eyes looked towards the blue/red eyes of her 'sibling'. "The scary thing is that I'm the woman in the dream, Ranma-neechan. I'm the one being mean and hurting that girl. I don't want to hurt that girl anymore." Sakura finished as she tried to cling to the older girl with tears flowing down her eyes.

Ranma could only stare in silence at her 'sister', and Laira was watching to see what she would do. If what the girl was saying was true, then could it mean that she was _**HER**_? That meant she herself could be in danger of going through the same thing as her past life two lives ago. Either she did that, or she could try to take maters into her own hands and turn the tables. 'No-- I can't do something like that to Sakura. I could never bring myself to harm or fear her. She's essentially my sister, and I swore that I'd be there for her.' She finished as she glanced to the distraught young girl. Taking several calming breaths, she attempted to help her. "Sakura-chan, listen to me. You are not the person in your dream. The person in your dream that you think is you is just a demon from the past trying to scare you in doing what it does. You are _**NOT**_ that person, and you will never act like that person. You may notice a few odd things later, but remember: You are you, and that person was that person. Those dreams may be scary, but just think of them as something to teach you how to _**NOT**_ act." The cat-girl gave a smile. "You're my sister, and I will always be there for you."

The young eight-year-old stared at the re-assuring smile, and she remembered that the one next to her had always seemed to be there for her. Her fearful eyes changed to eyes of hope, and then her mouth became a wide smile. "Ranma-neechan is the best." She simply said as she snuggled closer and closed her eyes.

'I've always said the exact same thing about momma.' Laira thought with a smile as she made herself more comfy at her spot on Ranma's chest. 'She might be cocky, short-tempered, sometimes inconsiderate, and many other things, but her heart is in the right place.'

'Hey, I'm not cocky and inconsiderate. Just for that, you aren't getting carrots for a week.'

'You're so mean momma!!' The cabbit whined out. 'Ryo-ohki gets to have carrots whenever she wants.'

'Yeah, but Ryoko sucks at taking care of her, now doesn't she?' The cat-girl asked with an inner chuckle. 'She sucks at a lot of things.'

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma gave her goodbyes to Sakura, Kasumi, Akane, and Nodoka as the group of four left to catch the bus that would take them on their way back to Nerima. "Don't worry mom," the cat-girl stated with a wave, "I'll come and visit Nerima tomorrow. It'll be Christmas, and I'd like to spend a little bit of that time at my old stomping ground." A familiar smirk made itself known on the redhead. "You all still remember the cover story that we created a while ago, don't you?"

Akane rolled her eyes. "Of course we remember the cover story. You're the adopted granddaughter of Katsuhito Masaki." The amazing thing was how her former fiancé always managed to pull off an innocent, yet slightly weird, childish personality that nobody ever seemed to see through. Maybe it was because nobody ever thought to question a young child. Even one with cat-features, but then again, Nerima was still a place of oddity. "See you later, stupid brat." The dark-haired older tomboy said with a wave.

"Yeah, and the same goes for you, old hag of a tomboy." The two gave a mock glare at each other before smiling. They had never quite got out of the habit of calling each other names, but it was considered mostly a thing of familiarity and endearment these days. "Oh, and tell Yuzuya that I'll give her a spanking if she ever tries to come near my tail again!" Her response was a waving fist as the four women walked off out of sight. After standing there and watching for a few more moments, the dual-colored-eyed martial artist/sorceress turned around and looked down at Laira with a Cheshire smile. "So Lai, are you ready to do a little exploration on the moon?"

The small cabbit gave a mini-salute. "I'm ready for another test flight, momma." When they had both talked about taking a small adventure to the moon to test out the little creature's ability to do interplanetary travel, they found themselves to be completely excited at the idea.

"Wait a second; Laira can fly in ship form now?" Washu asked in surprise. When she last saw the little red-furred creature, it couldn't even stay in the sky for more than five minutes. Now they were telling her that she could fly after a few months of being stationed in a castle? "Maybe you should take Ryo-ohki with you just in case." As if on cue, the tiny brown cabbit jumped into Washu's arms with a loud 'myah'.

Ranma waved her hand. "Thanks for the concern, but I believe that Laira will be able to do the job just fine." Her 'daughter' gave a great big 'myah' of her own. The other cabbit seemed slightly sad, but had to give a smile at the fact that the younger had learned how to finally fly. "Don't worry, Ryo-ohki. Maybe you could have some fun flying with Laira sometime later on." That seemed to pick up the creature's mood.

Turning around, the cat-girl commanded her 'daughter' to transform. With a nod, Laira leapt into the air and began to morph. A few moments later, a small cabbit ship was hovering just above the house. Giving a quick wave to the crab-haired scientist, and the residents of the house who came out to watch in curiosity, the young masu phased out of view and -- unseen by everyone else -- back into view on the bridge of the ship. "Set coordinates for the Moon, right momma?"

"You got it, Lai." The redhead commented as she sat down on the seat that appeared in the center of the carpeted bridge. Looking outside of the windows, she watched as the ship started to slowly move. Laira then picked up speed and started to shoot towards the direction of the floating chunk of rock that orbited the Earth. It was a good thing that the cloaking device was on, otherwise they would have given the passengers of a couple planes a reason to panic. As they climbed higher and higher, Ranma watched as the scenery changed from the atmosphere of the Earth, to the cold vacuum of outer space. Glancing into the rear window, the cat-girl watched as Earth in its entirety came into view. "No matter how many times I see it, it's still amazing." She whispered to herself as a grin began to spread on her face. "See, you did it, Lai! It's your first successful flight into space without any problems at all."

"I told you I could do it!" The voice of the cabbit echoed from around the bridge. The redhead could sense the growing feelings of her 'daughter' as they continued on towards the crater-filled satellite of rock. Watching it quickly come into view caused Ranma to think of some of those outer space movies she had seen many times. The thing that still surprised the cat-girl was how she had never visited the Moon before. You'd think that by living in a house that was home to some of the more powerful extraterrestrials in the universe, she would have visited the Earth's Moon at least once. Sure she'd flown past it several times, but she never visited it. The idea of it all sounded preposterous when you thought about it.

Well, now it wouldn't be something that she'd never done before. Her blue-red eyes watched as Laira stopped above the large ball of rock and slowly began to descend. It didn't take long before the ship was sitting on the ground. Standing to her feet, Ranma quickly teleported off of her the bridge of the ship. Appearing outside, she looked around at the desolate wasteland that seemed to go on for almost forever. Next, her 'daughter' changed back into cabbit form and hopped onto the cat-girl's head. 'Not exactly a happy looking paradise, is it Lai?'

The lavender-eyed creature gave a small shiver in response. 'It's kind of spooky when you think about it.' Craters, impact marks, and mini mountains were all that seemed to be in this area that they had never visited. The area around them was completely silent. There wasn't even one bit of noise. Among all of this, it didn't seem as if there was a thing of interest. It was then, however, that Ranma's ears started to twitch a little.

'I feel a small pull of magic coming from that direction.' She said through their link with a point of her hand. 'It feels old and slightly weak, but it _**IS**_ a feeling of magic.' The redhead decided to fly towards the direction she was feeling, since she didn't want to deal with the lack of gravity at the moment. 'I think the spot we are headed to is called The Sea of Serenity. At least it's good to know that Washu's teachings are coming in handy for something.' She had to give a smirk at that as she neared the area where the feeling was the strongest. Her eyes widened at spotting actual stone pillars and ruins on the ground. 'It's almost as if there was something built here long ago.'

'Hey, what's that, momma?' Laira asked as she pointed ahead. Following the paw, Ranma caught sight of something imbedded within the ground. Gliding up to it, she could feel the magic getting stronger. Finally on top of it, she could see that it was a large petrified sword imbedded into the stone flooring. 'I can feel the magic coming from it as well.' The cabbit commented

'Then why don't we just pull it out?' The cat-girl asked with a grin. This was actually becoming a fun trip. Reaching out with her right hand, she grabbed hold of the hilt of the blade. Calming herself for a moment, she proceeded to pull with a large bit of ki pumped into her arm. The blade came out easily and without any true problem. 'That seemed a little too simple.' She thought as she examined the sword. She could feel a good bit of magic coming from under the petrified surface. 'Maybe I could have Washu examine it. Then again, I could let you consume it, Lai. You'd be able to combine it with your energy and power reserves for later if we are in an emergency.' It was then that her eyes noticed something forming from where she pulled the sword out. 'I spoke too soon about it being simple. I _**REALLY**_ need to shut up about things like that.' She became interested, however, when a holographic image of a beautiful and elegant woman at about a foot tall appeared in front of her. The woman's hair was silver in color and in an odango style with pigtails. 'That's not exactly the most common hairstyle around here, and it kind of reminds me of--'

"_I never expected someone who wasn't of Silver Millennium descent to find their way here and pull up this sword." _The woman commented with a serene look on her face. _"I also never thought that said person would have a pair of cat ears and tail. Tell me; are you by any chance a Mau?"_ The voice was soft and gentle to the ears.

"A Mau? What's a Mau?" She had never heard of that word before. "Sorry, I'm just a person who was trained in something called the Neko-ken. If you don't mind me asking, who are you?"

A small giggle came from the woman. _"Forgive me for my rudeness, young lady. Allow me to introduce myself. I am, well, I was, Queen Serenity of the once flourishing Moon Kingdom. It was a glorious kingdom, but it fell due to jealousy and evil intent." _The silver-haired woman seemed to become a little sad. _"I had to watch many of my subjects die before me, and I wasn't in time to stop my darling daughter from committing suicide due to the loss of her love. I did manage to send everyone forward to be resurrected, and I was able to seal the evil away. That last act ended up killing me, but with my last few breaths, I watched the people I save drift off to be reborn sometime in the future."_

Ranma knelt down next to the holographic image. "I may not truly understand anything about it, but I'm sorry for your loss." Something else flittered through her mind. "Serenity, did your daughter have blonde hair, blue eyes, and a similar hair-style to yours?" The miniature woman looked up to her and gave a sad nod. "Well," the redhead began with a smile, "I saw an eight-year-old girl yesterday at an ice cream shop on earth who matches that description."

Serenity's eyes widened as tears seem to come to them. _"It really did work like I hoped then." _A wide and beautiful smile broke out across her face_. "Please, could you tell me what she was like when you saw her?"_

"I'd be happy to, Serenity." The masu answered with a nod. "From the limited time I spoke with her, she seemed happy, carefree, loved ice cream, and had an air of elegance about her that no eight-year-old should normally have. She happens to also be a good friend to my little sister, and from what I've sensed from her current mother, she's in very good hands." Blue-red eyes watched as holographic tears trailed down to the dry and rocky ground.

"_Then that means that everyone else must have found lives as well. I'm so glad that I could have helped them."_ Her eyes glanced at the sword in the cat-girl's hand. _"Please, if there ever comes a time that the Sailor Senshi are needed, could you help them if they were in serious need of protecting my daughter? I know this may be a lot for me to ask, but--"_

"A martial artist protects those who need it." She didn't have a clue as to what Sailor Senshi were, but decided that they must have been soldiers of some kind and protected the woman's daughter. "If they are ever in any real danger, I will help."

Serenity smiled as her form began to waver. _"My time in this form grows short. I appreciate the small talk that we had, and I thank you for telling me about my daughter. Please, may I know your name?"_

"It's Ranma, Ranma Lina Malfoy."

"_Then I thank you from the bottom of my heart, Ranma." _ As suddenly as she had appeared several moments ago, the holographic form of a once beautiful ruler of the Moon vanished. In the wake of the ghost from the past, Ranma continued to kneel down in that spot for several moments in thought. Shaking her head, she pushed herself back to her feet.

'It's hard to believe that scientists never discovered this stuff yet.' She thought as she looked around. Glancing back at the sword, she gave a smile. 'Here you go, Lai.' She stated as she gave a small toss of the blade. With a quick motion, the young cabbit jumped at the sword and began to absorb its matter. After finishing with her 'meal', Laira shook her head.

'Wow, that actually had a lot of power to it, momma.' It almost felt as if something was starting to happen to her body. Both 'mother' and 'daughter' watched as the cabbit's form seemed to shift and mold. After several minutes of this, the young creature's body slowly changed. Where there was once a cute and cuddly little cabbit, there was now an extremely cute and cuddly cabbit that had the slight humanoid appearance of a four year old. 'Wha-- what?' Laira asked as she looked down at herself. 'Momma! I can now turn into a humanoid form like Ryo-ohki!!' She shouted over the link in pure joy. 'Do you have a mirror, momma?!'

Ranma nodded dumbly and pulled out a mirror that was large enough for her 'daughter' to look in. Upon close examination of her new form, the cabbit noticed that she did look like a four-year-old. Well, that is if your average four-year-old had short pale-pink fur. On her head, she found long dark purple hair that flowed down to her ankles, and on top of her head were two small strands of hair that stuck straight up and curled at the end. Her now elf-like ears had also found their way onto the side of her now human-like head. Reaching up with her _**HANDS**_, she tugged a little on her ears. 'This-- this is fantastic!!' She shouted as she turned around-- and promptly fell flat onto her back. 'Ok, so I need to get used to these legs. That won't be too much of a problem.' She raised a small fist into the air. "NO MORE BEING STUCK AS A TINY ANIMAL!!" The humanoid cabbit promptly fell onto her butt again.

Ranma could help it any longer and started to laugh until tears came to her eyes. "You don't need to get so worked up, Laira." She managed to get out as she calmed down. "You know, I think you are even more adorable in that form. Imagine what everyone at Hogwarts would think when they see you now." The two shared a very devious smile at the thought. "If you keep absorbing power-soaked matter, you'll probably be able to achieve an older form as well." She didn't know if she wanted her 'daughter' to grow up so fast though.

The physically four-year-old creature leapt into the cat-girl's arms. "Let's go find some more things momma. It never hurts to stock up on things." Perhaps the moon could have even more interesting things to find. "Could there be some things underground?" She asked in eagerness.

The masu tapped her chin for a moment. "You know, there just might be. Well, why don't we hurry and see?" At the child's vigorous nod, Ranma held her carefully as she began phasing through the ground. If there really was a kingdom around here, then there was a possibility that they'd hide important things underground. Sure enough, they found themselves in a dimly lit corridor. Apparently the leftover magic seemed to still feed power to the area below the surface. "I don't know why, but a part of me is really excited to be exploring completely unknown territory. It's a place where nobody has ventured for thousands of years." A Cheshire-like grin spread across her face. "I wonder how many leftover valuables there are. Maybe there are ancient and lost martial arts techniques, or maybe there are also some interesting magic skills. Hey, maybe there's even lost treasure or magical items." She was getting very excited, and this entire scene was starting to scare Laira.

"Are you alright, momma?" The humanoid cabbit asked as she held the hand of her 'mother' so she could learn to walk better. She had never seen the cat-girl act like this before. She's seen her interested in exploring and getting the lay of the land, but never obsessive to this degree. When her 'mother' started to laugh like a giddy escaped convict from an asylum, the humanoid girl gave a shout. "Momma, you're starting to scare me!"

The former Saotome snapped out of it and shook her head. "Whoa, what the hell was that? It was like I was just overcome by some weird obsession to search for all the valuables I could." Her eyes suddenly narrowed as realization came to her. "Damn, past life backlash. Lina Inverse had a thing for exploring and scavenging almost anything of value she could find." Apparently the thought of entering this place brought those feelings to the forefront. "You know, Lina Inverse scares me sometimes."

"You're not the only one." Laira stated with a shiver. The woman must have been a real handful in her time, and whoever was able to control her must have been a strong and great person.

"Well, let's check this place out." Ranma stated calmly as she lead the small cabbit child down the corridors. They didn't know where they were going, but that was naturally half the fun of exploring unknown places. She slightly wondered if Washu had ever bothered to check this place out. 'I might just have found out something that she never did, and it was right in front of her face.' She could only imagine the scientific genius's look.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma and Laira continued to look around as they moved about the underground corridors. Both had been walking for about 30 minutes or so, and all they really found were debris, old bedrooms, skeletons, and an assortment of other things that usually felt at home in places like this. It wasn't a total loss as they moved about though. Somehow the vacuumed atmosphere managed to keep a few diaries, journals, and entire books intact. Even thought the books were well over thousands of years old, they still seemed to be in mint condition. Without any air, moisture, light, and other things that usually caused things like that to be destroyed, it was likely that they would hit the jackpot a few times. Both were glad that -- due to their masu genes -- they could survive in areas with no air. If it wasn't for that, they'd already be dead.

The journals, diaries, and books would be good to keep for learning about what was going on at the time. With such antiquity as this, it was certain that a certain crab-haired scientist would have a complete fit at the knowledge that she could learn. The sad part about it all was knowing that there had actually been people living here at one time, and that they were all wiped out. She was sure that this Moon Kingdom was probably a lovely place to live all those thousands of years ago, and if there was life on the moon, did that mean the other planets and moons in this galaxy had life at one time?

Looking down at the cabbit next to her, she couldn't help but smile at the look of awe on the girl's face. It was interesting how one magical sword was able to give her enough energy to gain a humanoid form. Neither even knew that it could happen, and they had to wonder if Washu knew something like that. From what they learned about Ryo-ohki, she gained her humanoid forms after merging with some escaped masu experiments or something. When Laira first saw the older cabbit's ability to 'go humanoid', she was completely jealous, and wished that she could do the same. The good thing about it was that Ryo-ohki had tried to encourage Laira to figure out a way to do it. Both of the cabbits thought of each other as sisters. Something like that, however, would make the cat-girl and Ryoko seem closer. That was not an appealing thought at all. It wasn't that she didn't _**LIKE**_ the older masu. She just thought the woman could be a little less of a… something.

The redhead was brought out of her musings when the two of them came to a set of large double doors on the left side of the hall. The size of the doors had managed to pique her curiosity considerably. Walking up to them, she started to give a hard push. To her joy, both doors began to open, and before long, the two individuals were through the doorway and looking into the room that greeted them. To say they were surprised would have been like saying that a carrot was only a little orange.

The room they were standing in was huge. Of course, a room being huge didn't necessarily mean anything grand or special. No, it was not the size of the room that caused them to stare. It was the _**COMPUTER**_ that they were both staring at. For something that was several of thousands of years old, it seemed quite advanced for its time. Computer screens seemed to litter the area, and the keyboard was easy enough to operate. How something like this could survive for thousands upon thousands of years was well beyond her. As her blue/red eyes scanned the computer itself, she could make out a name engraved on the side. _'Eternity Main Systems'_ was what the computer was called.

Her interest completely piqued by this turn of events, the redhead made her way up to the large electronic creation and began to examine it. After a few moments, she thought she found something that could have been the 'on' switch. Activating it, she watched as the screens began to light up one by one as the thing began humming. This discovery was absolutely amazing, and she couldn't wait to tell Washu of what she found. 'I've been around Washu for too long. I'm starting to have my own little obsessions with this stuff.' Maybe that's what the crab-haired scientist wanted or something. Either way, it wasn't important at the moment. The important thing was to learn a little about what was going on here.

"_**ETERNITY MAIN SYSTEMS: PLEASE INPUT PASSWORD"**_

'Shit, I don't know any passwords.' Ranma thought as she tried to think frantically. This was a great find, and she'd be damned if she'd let it slip through her fingers. 'What the hell am I going to do?' Pulling out a few of the diaries and journals, she began to leaf through them for any clues. 'Password, password, password, where are you password.' Where is a damn password when you need it? 'It has to be somewhere.'

Laira looked away from the cat-girl's vigorous search and examined the computer. Her eyes scanned the room for any signs of a possible clue. She heard about things like this being completely obvious. 'Hey, what's that?' She thought as she stood up and walked clumsily over to the base of the computer. There was a small tablet on the ground, and it caught her eye. Picking it up, she glanced at the pad. A moment later, a sweat-drop found its way onto her head. 'Momma, I think I found the password.'

The redhead's head whipped around quickly. 'Really? What's the password, Lai?' It was hard to believe that something that she wanted to find so badly would just be lying there on the floor for anybody to find it.

"The password is… ice cream."

"_**PASSWORD ACCEPTED-- WELCOME TO ETERNITY MAIN SYSTEMS, QUEEN SERENITY"**_

Both 'mother' and 'daughter' blinked for a few minutes before staring at each other. They then proceeded to stare back at the computer. The two then looked back at the notepad, and on the bottom they saw a chibi doodle of the Queen's head sticking out her tongue and doing a 'victory' sign. The two explorers of the moon shared a large sweat-drop as they both thought the exact same thing.

'You've got to be kidding me.'

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After gaining access of the mainframe via an… interesting password choice, Ranma proceeded to check out the archives that were stored on the aged hard-drive. What shocked her most was that if she read the history right, then the Moon Kingdom had been around for about 30,000 years, and that the entire kingdom fell about 10,000 years ago. It also seemed that she was right in thinking that there used to be life on the other planets in the solar system. In fact, it looked like there were computers that also orbited Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto. All this information could prove to be interesting to learn, but she couldn't stay here and learn about it. She had to take the information with her.

Doing that would be a simple matter. All she had to do was use the mini-computer that Washu got her a few years ago. She never bothered to use it much unless the scientific genius had her do something that required the use of it, but she did have a basic understanding of what to do. She remembered her teacher telling her that the cat-girl's mini-computer had as much space as one of her own mini-computers, and that was a lot. So seeing as how she had never put it to any real use except wasting time playing computer games, she decided to try it out now.

Pulling it out, she had to grimace. 'It always seems to be cat-stuff with me.' The computer itself had a large blue yarn-ball design. The case even had the texture of a yarn-ball. 'I guess it's similar to Washu and her crab designs. I just wonder why I have to be known for yarn-balls and fish.' Throwing the thought out of her mind, she proceeded to plug the mini-computer into the Eternity Systems. Once that was finished, she proceeded to see if she could copy the entire hard-drive onto her mini-computer. She actually hoped she was doing it right, since she had never done anything like this before. 'I'm going to be annoyed if I'm doing it wrong.' She thought with a frown.

Finished setting everything up, she proceeded to download everything onto her mini-comp. "I can't wait to see Washu's face when I show her this. She's going to completely flip." The cat-girl may not have been a complete genius, but she wasn't stupid. You don't spend nine damn years with the greatest scientific genius in the universe without learning a thing or two. Just because she had a habit of acting before thinking, often lacked common sense, and could sometimes insert her foot into her mouth, it didn't mean she was stupid. "I'm getting a little hungry." She said to herself. Reaching into her Hidden Weapons, she pulled out a few bags of potato chips and some sweet buns. "Want a sweet bun or some potato chips, Lai?" She handed the young cabbit some when Laira nodded.

Ranma wasn't aware of how long it actually took to download the whole mess, but in the process she finished off eight large bags of potato chips and seven sweet buns. "Maybe when we finish up with exploring this place, we can see if everyone wants to order out for pizza or something." She ignored the giggle from the cabbit child and looked down at her mini-computer. "Finally, it's done. That's the last time I ever do something like that again. Damn long as hell information dump." Unhooking her mini-computer, she put it away and moved back over to the Eternity Systems and shut it down. Scooping up the young cabbit, the cat-girl proceeded to walk out of the room and continue exploring the underground area of the kingdom. Both neither realized that they had actually taken the small notepad with the password with them.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"It seems like there's not really much here but crap." Ranma commented as Laira and she looked around an area that appeared to be a vault of some kind. They had found some gold and jewels in their search, but they had also found some half-assed magical items. One of the items was some kind of cloak that allowed a person to use telekinetic abilities. The only problem with that was that the target had to be at least three feet away, and using the ability was somewhat taxing. After trying to use it, the cat-girl felt slightly tired. She ended up handing it to Laira to consume. The young cabbit could use every bit of magic and energy she could get.

Next up was a magic ring that was just as half-assed. Apparently how it worked was that you thought of a certain person, and the ring would make said person sneeze. The only true problem with that was that the person could only be within a mile radius of the caster, and the person would also learn the identity of the person who did it. That item, too, went to Laira. The cabbit went on to say that it actually had a slight sour taste to it, but it was tasty none-the-less.

What Ranma found next had actually filled her whole mind with complete and utter dread. While she was feeling her hands around in the rubble for more items, her left hand brushed against some kind of pen item. The next thing she knew, a weird light enveloped her. A second later, she found herself standing in the freakiest outfit imaginable. It was like some… cheerleader schoolgirl outfit gone horribly wrong, and it was pink and purple. Her mind nearly shut-down when the whole thing happened, but it didn't, and she found herself running around the place like a chicken with its head cut off.

It took about 15 minutes for her to calm down, and another 10 minutes before she figured out how to get out of _**IT**_. After getting out of _**IT**_, she decided to not give it to Laira to eat. Now, she decided to introduce it to a fireball. She had the crazed satisfaction of blasting the freakish thing until it was nothing but a bunch of dust on the ground. Then she proceeded to blast a little more. Then, for good measure, slam a rock onto the dust. She was not going to risk _**THAT**_ coming back to haunt her. Something told her that if she didn't destroy it, it _**WOULD**_ come back to haunt her in the future. Well, good riddance to bad rubbish. She did _**NOT**_ want Narcissa to see that thing. She also didn't want Nodoka -- all her times pretending to be 'Ranko' fresh in her mind -- to see it either. _**IT**_ was just _**THAT**_ bad. For the first time ever in a while, she felt as if she dodged a terrible bullet that should have done her in.

The redhead did find something of interest a few minutes later though. It was obviously some kind of technique, but she didn't know if it was martial or magical. All she knew was that it apparently had the same function as a certain ass-poking technique from a certain ninja anime. How the Moon Kingdom had that lying around was completely beyond her, but why should she just let it lay around. It could provide a bit of amusement in the future. The question would be _**WHO**_ would be the first to experience the wonders of this technique. It was a hard choice between Happosai, Xellos, Ryoko, Nashigi, and a few other people. Hell, maybe Fred and George could find some use in a technique like that.

Upon finding various other scrolls of interesting or completely pointless skills and information, Ranma and Laira found an odd little key lying on the ground. It was a beautiful key, but it felt as if there was some strange magic coming from it. Both of them looked at each other before picking up the small little golden object. No sooner had they picked it up, than did they feel an odd pull on their very beings. They tried to drop it, but weren't in time before they were sucked into somewhere--

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

--and spit back out into an even odder place all-together. "Ow, what the hell was that?" Ranma asked as she rubbed her tail that she had landed on. Next to her, Laira was rubbing her own butt due to the fall. Raising her head, the cat-girl could only blink at seeing where they were. The entire place was shrouded in an odd mist for almost miles to see. It almost seemed as if there was no end to the plane itself. "Great, what trouble did I get us into now?" She grumbled out in annoyance as she stood up.

The cabbit child did the same as her 'mother' and looked around. Through the mist, she spotted a lone pair of double doors. "I see something over there, momma." The older girl stopped in her cursing long enough to see the exact same thing. "You think that's the way out?"

"If it's not, then at least it'll lead somewhere." If they managed to get out of this place, she decided they were headed home. They had enough adventure to last the rest of the holiday break. "C'mon, let's go and check it out." The humanoid cabbit gave a nod and followed through the mist. Anything was better than standing around in this place and doing nothing.

"Stop!" A voice shouted from somewhere in the area. Both people looked around for whoever the voice belonged to, but they couldn't spot anything. "You may not pass beyond this point!" Two pairs of eyes looked around again, and this time they saw something. It was a tall and dark-skinned woman with long green hair in an outfit that Ranma remembered from when she… went a little crazy earlier. The strange woman also had a staff that was in the shape of a giant key. "I hold the key to the Fourth Dimension, Guardian of the Underworld, Sailor Pluto."

"Well somebody is sure full of their self today." The 11-year-old redhead stated sarcastically. Jeez she hated people with long titles. It reminded her so much of Kuno that it wasn't funny. The guy may have gotten better with age, but he was still annoying. "Look, you see, we--"

"Those who break the taboo of entering this area uninvited… must die." The mysterious woman calling herself Sailor Pluto swung her staff around and pointed it at the two who had accidentally found their way there.

Ranma put her hands up in front of here. "Hey, we came here by accident, and we're only trying to find a way-- Laira, look out!" She shouted as she grabbed her 'daughter' and jumped out of the way of some strange blast of magic. Turning around, she sent a glare to the oddly dressed woman. "Will you listen to me for just one-- DAMN IT!" She shouted again as she grabbed the cabbit girl and jumped out of the way off another blast. "Ok, you are really starting to piss me off, lady." The cat-girl growled out as her eyes became crimson. 'It's always the goofs that love to use the 'kill first, ask question later' mentality.'

"You broke the law and entered this area without permission. It is my duty to execute yo--" Sailor Pluto didn't get a chance to finish before a pair of crimson-eyes appeared in her line of vision, and a punch found its way to her face. The punch sent her flying backwards, but she managed to straighten herself up. 'I could have dodged that if I was expecting it. Well, she won't catch me next time.'

The cat-girl was standing with her arms folded in front of her. "Well, are you ready to just listen to us, or are you going to-- SHIT!" Dodging another blast, she shot her hands forward. "Double Mouko Takabisha!" From both outstretched hands shot a pair of identical ki blasts. This act surprised the Senshi of Time, but she managed to dodge. She wasn't expecting it to be a diversion, and for her opponent to be ready to punch her as she dodged away from the blasts. Luckily for her, she managed to block the punch with her staff, but a kick to the side of her shoulder sent her flying.

Pluto managed to land on her feet -- much to the annoyance of her redheaded opponent -- and cast a glare towards the crimson-eyed 11-year-old. The girl was an annoying little pest, and she had some skill too. However, the guardian of the underworld didn't want to spend any longer on these two-- wait, there's still two of them here. Turning her head, the green-haired woman caught sight of the smaller one who had come here with the cat-girl. She had no clue what the smaller creature was, but she seemed like the easiest one to eliminate. It was nothing personal. She just had a job to do. Whispering her signature attack, she let it fly for the young creature.

Ranma cursed big-time when she saw where the blast was going this time. Wasting no time at all, she teleported to her daughter and picked her up. She then proceeded to teleport out of the range of the blast. The fact that she could teleport completely surprised the Senshi of Pluto, and the crimson-eyed glare she was currently receiving was only worsened by the sight of a red aura coursing around the girl's body. 'She looks like some crimson-eyed devil girl now.' The woman thought in slight nervousness.

If that wasn't enough, then the animalistic growl that accompanied the girl's voice was a sure-fire thing of fright. "You tried to kill my daughter, you fracking bitch. How could you try and kill a child, let alone two people who are lost and were trying to figure their way out?!" The air almost seemed to get heavy. "I don't care if you are the guardian of shit! There is no reason for attacking two people like that. You want to play with spells? Well fine, well _**PLAY**_.

"_Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows."_ The chant of the spell began draining all color from the Senshi of Time's face. _"Buried in the flow of time, that is where your power grows. In thy great name, I pledge myself to darkness."_ Now Pluto was feeling desperate. She could fire off a blast while the girl was in the middle of the spell, but since she had the ability to seemingly teleport without any real effort. _"Let the fools who stand before us be destroyed, by the power--"_

"WAIT!" The spell could completely destroy the Gates of Time. If that happened, she'd be in _**BIG**_ trouble. "I'm sorry for attacking the both of you, and I'm sorry for trying to kill your daughter. I'm only doing the job that I've been doing for thousands of years. If anybody comes here with intention of going through the gates without permission, I'm supposed to execute them." A sigh of relief escaped when the girl canceled the spell, but it turned to pain when she fount a fist in her gut.

"You stupid bitch." The redhead growled out. "We didn't come here to go through your damn gates. We came here by accident because of some stupid golden key lying around in the damn rubble. We were a couple of lost travelers when you attacked us. If you would have just waited instead of going all trigger happy, this whole thing could have been explained. Did you wait to listen to us? Hell no! You just decided that you were Kami-sama himself and that since we were here, we must have been up to no good with your precious gates. Jeez, what are you? Related to that creature with the obsession for that stupid ring from that one movie? I'm getting tired of people like you who always attack first without trying to talk it over!"

The tan-skinned Senshi stared into a pair of glowing crimson eyes and thought about what the young girl had just said. True, she did attack them without attempting to see why they were here in the first place. But being stuck in isolation without human contact for thousands of years tends to put you on edge for when you _**DO**_ finally see someone. There was also the fact that the first two people she had met in thousands of years that she tried to do away with were just children. The redhead may have had some skill and powerful magic, but she was still just a child. "I can't apologize for what I'm supposed to do for my job, but I can apologize for not checking out why you came."

"Well, at least it's something." Ranma said as she scratched the back of her head. The woman had apologized, and that was something in itself. Usually the person would either hold a grudge, or they would keep on attacking several more times until the point got across. "So who are you anyway?"

"My name is Sailor Pluto. I am the Senshi of Time, Guardian of the Underworld, and the Princess of Pluto. My job is to guard the Gates of Time from outside interference. If something is of direct threat to the time-stream, then it is my job to deal with it." She noticed the slight disinterested look on the 11-year-old and four-year-old whatever. 'Well, at least it seems that they have no interest in the thought of traveling through time.'

"I'm glad it's not my job. I've experienced time travel a few times before, and it's more trouble than its worth." The redhead stated as she thought about a certain pocket mirror, a couple of Washu's inventions, and one or two times back in Lina's time. "Anyway, how do we get out of this place? I'm hungry, and I want to get back home so I can eat something."

Pluto blinked at the statement of her experiencing time travel before. Now she knew why the redhead wasn't interested to know about the Time Gates. A slight smile came to the woman. "You said in your rant a few moments ago that you found a small golden key, did you not?" At the nod from her two guests, she went on. "You can use that to go back from where you came from. All you have to do is think of the spot and hold the key above your head. It'll then teleport you to your destination."

"See! This whole mess could have been solved without needing to fight!" Ranma announced with an accusing finger to the green-haired Senshi. "You're lucky that my physical abilities still aren't at the point that they used to be. Otherwise I would have pounded you into the ground faster than you could think!"

The Guardian of the Gates actually let out a giggle. "I highly doubt that you'd be able to beat me in a full fight even with all of your physical abilities at where they were. I may not know how good you really are, but I doubt someone as young as you could keep up with someone who's been around for thousands of years." She forgot how good it was to talk to another human being. "By the way, what's your name?"

"That's what you think. You'll be eating those words the next time we fight." The question the Senshi asked filtered through to her mind. "Ranma Lina Malfoy: Greatest martial artist and sorceress." The older woman raised an eyebrow. "Alright, fine, there are at least two people out there who are better than me, but I am one of the best! I can also safely say that I _**AM**_ the greatest sorceress ever. Well, I have met people on other planets who could out-do me in magic-- damn it to hell." Before she continued to ramble on, she put a hand on Laira's head. "And this is my daughter, Laira. Well, I actually hatched her from an egg that my teacher created through the use of some of my cells and DNA-- why the hell am I rambling?"

"It's because you got flustered over the thought of not being the best, momma." The humanoid cabbit stated with a giggle at the reddening of the cat-girl's face. This also caused the Senshi of Pluto to get caught up in her own giggling.

"I haven't had any enjoyment like this in a long time." The green-haired woman commented as she held out a gloved hand. "It's been a pleasure to meet you, Ranma-- except for the confrontation we had when you first got here." She finished with a tinge of pink on her cheeks at the glare she received for mentioning that. "Maybe we'll see each other again?"

The cat-girl gave a shrug. "It's a possibility. As long as you don't try to attack me out of the blue again, that is." The glare vanished. "Have fun with your… job. All I can say is that I don't envy you at all." With a small smirk, she picked up Laira and raised the key above her head. "Take me back to the surface of the Moon." With a nearly blinding flash, the two individuals vanished from the area of mist. This left the Senshi of Pluto to continue to do the job that she had for almost forever.

"I wonder if that was a sign that interesting things are going to be happening soon." Pluto wondered as she looked around the virtual wasteland that was her home. "I really hate this job."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After appearing back on the Moon's surface, Ranma had Laira to transform into her ship form so that they could get back home. The redhead didn't know how long they had been gone, but the young cabbit suggested that it was about six hours. The cat-girl had to whistle at that. She had no idea since time seemed to almost fly by while they were exploring the place. Tossing the thought out of her mind for that moment, she watched as they entered the Earth's atmosphere and continued on towards the Masaki household. Ranma slightly wondered just how the people on the jet they passed would have acted if they saw a space ship barreling passed them.

They finally found themselves back at the Masaki house and hovering above the house. Of course their presence caused everyone to charge out of the house. Once the inhabitants of the house saw who it was though, they calmed down. "It looks like the Shrimp was able to make it alright." Ryoko stated in a bored tone. She was kind of hoping that Ranma would have problems and would need help. Then she would have been able to rub it into the cat-girl's face.

"You were expecting me to have trouble, Old Mummy?" The redhead asked as she appeared on the ground. A moment later, Laira transformed out of her ship form and landed onto the cat-girl's head. The shocked looks on everyone's face caused Ranma to smirk. "Yeah, Laira ate a petrified magic sword that we found up there. Apparently it had enough power within it to give her the ability to transform into a child form."

"Yep!" The little cabbit shouted as she jumped off of her mother's head and landed onto her feet. Looking up, she smiled as Ryo-ohki -- in her own child form -- ran up to her. The purple-haired cabbit gave a smile and a victory sign. "I'm no longer stuck as a small animal!" She blinked when her cabbit sister grabbed her into a hug.

"Great!" Ryo-ohki managed to get out before she began shouting myah's of joy. The older creature could get out words every now and then, but she was more comfortable with giving a myah. "Play!" The brown-furred child-like creature shouted as she began pulling the other along with her.

Ranma would have laughed at the sight if it wasn't for the small whack upside her head that she received from Washu. "I probably could have examined that sword and found a few things of interest, you know." The genius was slightly peeved that her student didn't even think of her. "It could have been a clue to learn a little more about this Solar System."

The cat-girl hid a smirk that threatened to break loose. "You mean that you never examined the moon and this Solar System before? I thought you ran scans and all that stuff." Oh, this was going to be so sweet.

"I've attempted to run scans before, but they have never revealed anything of interest on the Moon, nor have I seen anything of real interest in the rest of this backwater Solar System." Emerald-green eyes noticed a catty grin on her student. "What's with the look, Ranma?"

A chuckle escaped the martial artist/sorceress. "Well Washu-chan, I ended up exploring the inside of the moon, and a little of the outside. I found the ruins of an old castle, and I found the ruins of bed chambers, training facilities, treasure vaults, and a highly advanced computer called the Eternity Main Systems. In fact," she pulled out her mini-computer, "I copied all of the data from that computer onto here. 30,000 years worth of information and history on something that was around 10,000 years ago called the Moon Kingdom and Silver Millennium. Not only was there life on the moon, but life on all the other planets in this Solar System. There are also other computers on hidden castles that circle Pluto, Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus."

Washu could only stare at her young student as her hand reached out shakily and grabbed hold of the mini-computer. There was a little bit of drool on the side of her mouth as she examined the information. Over 30,000 years worth of knowledge and history about this backwater Solar System. This backwater system also used to have a highly advanced computer that allowed life to exist. 'Kami-sama… this is fantastic. Ranma actually discovered a treasure trove of knowledge that was sitting right under my nose.' For the first time in several years, the greatest scientific genius in the universe was rendered speechless by her own student.

"I've also found loads of diaries, journals, and books, Washu-chan." The younger redhead commented as she held out a large box filled with it all. "They're books that contain the inner thoughts and ideas of the rulers of the Moon during those times. Everything kept mostly intact due to the atmosphere being a virtual vacuum with no air, moisture, or sunlight to corrode away the paper." Of everything that she was expecting to happen, she wasn't expecting her teacher to tightly grab hold of her shoulders and stare at her.

Washu's emerald-green eyes stared right at her student for the past nine years. The girl had just surprised her greatly with valuable information worth more than gold itself to the genius. Her mind was still in a state of complete and utter shock and joy at this discovery. If the girl thought that all this would completely throw her for a loop, then she was absolutely correct. As she held her student in place, Washu: The Greatest Scientific Genius in the Universe could only think of one thing to say that could sum up her whole shock, joy, pride, and everything else.

"Marry me," The eccentric 20,000-year-old genius simply said in an almost distant voice as her eyes seemed to get an odd look in them.

"Wha-- what the hell are you talking about?" Ranma asked while she -- and everyone else -- blinked. That was the most random thing that she had ever heard from her teacher. Soon, she found an arm draped around her shoulder.

"Think of it Ranma," the older redhead started, "two redheaded geniuses who could explore the mysteries of the universe together and solve everything there is to solve." There was a kind of odd look in her eyes. "We would make such a perfect couple, don't you think so, Ranma-chan?"

The cat-girl managed to pull herself away and wave her arms in a warding gesture. "Now calm down a moment Washu-chan. You're only a little delirious because of the information overload I just gave to you. Besides, I'm only 11-years-old--"

"I believe you've learned of quite a few planets out there where an 11-year-old would be able to marry." The genius interrupted with a smirk as the younger redhead seemed to be getting nervous. "I think it could be fun and enjoyable, Ranma-chan."

"Now wait a--" The dual eye-colored girl's eyes widened when her teacher transformed into her adult form. "Damn it, will you cut that out, Washu-cha--" She suddenly found a finger pressed against her lips as her teacher bent over to look her right in the eyes.

"If you're unable to ever find yourself a girl of your own, Ranma-chan, I'll always be here. Besides, I think you deserve a girl who happens to be mature, youthful, playful, intelligent, witty, long lived…" As the eccentric woman listed each off, her face inched closer and closer to the younger girl -- who happened to be completely petrified at the moment due to what was going on.

Just as Washu's lips were about to brush against Ranma's, both redhead's were pushed apart by a slightly red-faced Tenchi. "Ranma's right, Washu-chan. She is only 11-years-old. There's no reason to do things like that to her right now." The young man was glad that he was able to help his friend in time. The cat-girl almost seemed about ready to faint, and it was hard to believe that the mad scienti-- scientific genius swung that way. He saw the pout on the 20,000-year-old genius's face, but became relieved when she turned and walked away. For a moment there, he thought he was going to be used as a guinea pig again. "You okay there, Ran…ma?" The Masaki man could only blink.

The young redhead still seemed to be completely petrified as her wide eyes looked on in shock. Humorously, there was a small trail of blood leaking out of her nose, and her whole face was as red as a tomato. Standing around the girl was Sasami, Ayeka, Ryoko, and Mihoshi, and all four were trying to get the girl out of her shock. The blonde Galaxy Police officer was giving the cat-girl a series of pokes, and Sasami was trying to shake her shoulders. Ayeka was toying with the cat-ears, and Ryoko floated in front of the girl and gave a small blow of her breath. They all watched as the petrified cat-girl slowly fell over and onto her back.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Ryoko laughed out at the sight that she saw before her.

"WAAAAHHHH!!! Something's wrong with Ranma-chan!" Mihoshi cried out as tears streamed from her eyes.

"Poor Ranma-chan." Sasami stated with worry in her eyes.

"RYOKO! Your mother broke Ranma!" Ayeka screamed as her face centered onto the cyan-haired masu.

"Hey, it's not Washu's fault that the Shrimp is frail when it comes to things like that. I haven't seen a reaction like that in forever!" The ex-space pirate yelled as she continued to laugh her ass off.

'It's just one of those days.' Tenchi thought with a sigh as he walked over to the downed girl and picked her up onto his shoulder. He then turned around and proceeded to take his friend to her room. '11-years-old is too young to have female problems.' The man thought with a chuckle. He hoped more than anything that Washu was just kidding, but knowing the eccentric woman as well as he did…

'Be strong, Ranma.'

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma's eyes flittered open slowly. Glancing around, she noticed that she was in her bed in her room. She was also able to tell from looking out the window that it was the next morning. Racking her brain, she attempted to try and figure out what had happened the day before. When she finally remembered, her face took on a full shade of crimson. 'I _**REALLY**_ hope she was just kidding.' It wasn't too likely, but there was always a rare instance. The memory was still completely fresh in her mind to this very moment.

Shaking her head, the cat-girl tossed the covers off and hopped out of bed. She then remembered that it was Christmas, and she was going to go and visit Nerima later. 'Anything to get my mind off of what happened.' She thought with a shiver as she made her way out of her room and down the hall. Coming to the staircase, she proceeded to walk down, and she almost crashed into Washu as she came to the bottom step. "Good morning, Washu-chan." She said while trying to hide a frown. "You-- weren't serious about all the stuff you said yesterday, were you?"

The scientific genius's emerald eyes twinkled as a wide smile appeared on her face. "You _**KNOW**_ I don't joke around about things as serious as that, Ranma-chan." She put an arm around her student's shoulder. "C'mon, can you honestly tell me that you would not like to spend the rest of your life with me? Think of all the fun and excitement we could have." She shook her head at the red-faced reply. "You are still somehow a little too immature when it comes to things like that, Ranma-chan. Maybe it will all finally catch up to you in a few years, and I'll be waiting for it as well."

'I really hope this is just an after-affect of handing her all that information I got. I don't think I could handle it if she really was in her right mind.' Ranma felt something thrust into her hands. Looking down, she noticed that it was her mini-computer. Looking to the older redhead, she noticed the woman was slipping into teacher mode. It was something that filled her with relief.

"My assignment for you, my little student, is to learn all you can about the information that you gathered. There were other things on the agenda, but I feel that you can take it easy for quite some time to come. All you have to do is casually read and study the info until you are finished. I honestly don't care how long it takes, but I will give you other assignments in the future." The emerald-eyed genius patted the cat-girl on the head. "You have no idea of just how proud I am of you, student. You have completely gone beyond my expectations."

Ranma didn't really know how to handle the praise she was receiving. Sure, Washu had praised her before for doing something that seemed incredibly difficult, but never to this magnitude. It felt… really good. "Thank you, Washu-sensei!" She managed out with a large smile. A large roar suddenly made itself known, and caused the younger redhead to put a hand on her stomach. "Damn, I missed eating yesterday because of what you did to me!"

Her teacher had the decency to look embarrassed. "Sorry about that, Ranma-chan. Come on, let's go get some breakfast before you get hungry enough to eat us out of house and home."

"Hey!"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Breakfast was even more enjoyable on a completely empty stomach, and everyone had to suppress a sweat-drop at the sight of a cat-girl eating twice as much as she usually did. Even after nine years, they could never figure out where the food went. Although Washu had decided that the food got stored _**SOMEWHERE**_ for energy, and that even as she ate, Ranma burned energy. That was the reason why the younger redhead always ate more than it seemed that one her size should be able to eat. At least, that's what Washu thought. Ayeka decided that the girl must have some kind of mini black hole in her stomach that got rid of everything.

After her meal, the dual-color-eyed martial artist/sorceress decided to open the presents that the Malfoys had got for her. As she unwrapped the presents, she took stock on what she had received from her parents in this life. What she received was: A couple of books on magical spells, a couple of dresses and outfits -- three guesses who from --, some spending money, and a set of Wizard's Chess. The books and spending money were the most interesting of the gifts.

Laira became positively elated when Ranma gave her all the outfits the cat-girl had when she was four. She didn't know why she still had the clothing from the time, but found that they would have better use if her daughter had them. The young cabbit didn't care if they were old outfits, and all she could think was about was how it was a gift for her new form. The response the cat-girl got from the cabbit was a massive glomp that carried behind it an amount of strength that one wouldn't expect the diminutive creature to have.

As the former Saotome went to reach for another present to open from one of her 'extended family' in the Masaki house, the telephone began to ring. Ranma watched as Sasami left the room to answer it and thought nothing of it. "RANMA!" The blue-haired woman shouted as she came back. The shout caused everyone to jump and turn around to see a wide-eyed and fearful Juraian Princess.

This caused the redhead to feel worried. "Sasami, what's wro--"

"That was Nodoka that just called. Someone just broke into their home, knocked her and Genma out of the way, and kidnapped Sakura!" There was a moment of complete silence around the room before she suddenly found a pair of crimson eyes just inches from her face and staring into her own pink eyes with serious intensity.

"Who, damn it?! Did mom know anything about the person who did it?!" Who the hell could be strong enough to just knock Genma out of the way so easily, and why the hell would someone take an innocent child such as Sakura. "Whoever the damn bastard is, they're going to--" She stopped in her tirade when she -- as well as the other occupants of the house -- felt some kind of odd energy nearby.

"Yo," a loud and low voice called out, "I'm here for the reborn Lina Inverse. I'd like to have a few words with her!" Everyone was silent at the shout from whoever it was that just appeared. "C'mon already! If you don't hurry up, I might have to rough up this little kid a little until you decide to show!"

That was all the incentive that Ranma needed. With movement quicker than anyone could track, the young cat-girl shot out of the room and towards the front door. Without even hesitation or slowing down, she burst through the now demolished door and stepped outside. Her eyes narrowed when she caught sight of the person who had called her out. Said person was obviously male at about 6'3" with shoulder-length blonde hair. His skin had a deep tan, and his humor-filled eyes were a deep orange color. His outfit consisted of a normal long-sleeve sweater and thick woolen pants that were attached by a large chain belt. What really caused the dual-eyed girl who stare was the bundle in the man's left hand. "Sakura…" She said softly as she looked upon her sister. The younger girl was tied up so she couldn't move, and over her mouth was a large piece of tape to prevent her from speaking. The worst of all was the obvious black eye that the girl was sporting.

"Ah yes, I guess I already did rough her up a little. The girl just wouldn't stop screaming, and so I had to do that as I was tying her up. Even threats of harming her even more wouldn't shut her up. So, I had to put the tape over her mouth. She's a cute kid, but she really needs to respect adults more." The man smiled and showed off his sharp teeth. "I do wonder how well you scream though, Lina. Then again, maybe I should be calling you _**RANMA**_. That is, seeing how you like to go by that name around here." His orange eyes began to twinkle at the red aura that spring up around the 11-year-old. "Oooo, this could get very interesting. Tell you what, Kitty. If you can rescue this girl in five minutes, I'll leave her alone. If you can't, then I'll just have the pleasure of killing--"

"BASTARD!!" Ranma shouted as she shot forward. She ignored the people in the house telling her to wait, and she ignored the laughing of the odd man in front of her. All that was going through her mind was saving her sister. Barreling towards her opponent, she attempted to punch the guy with a quick punch. To her shock, and anger, the man teleported out of the way and reappeared a few feet away.

The strange man waved his finger in the air. "My, you have quite the temper there, child. It may feel incredibly tasty, but it can lead to a quick death for you." His smirk turned into a frown when the redhead split into two people. The information never said anything about that. His frown turned into shock when both cat-girls teleported from his vision. The information never mentioned anything about that as well. "Where did you go, Kitten?" His response came when one of the doubles appeared above his hand and gave a quick -- but very painful -- bite. The bite caused him to drop his cargo, and he watched as the other cat-girl appeared and grabbed the raven-haired captive. Both redheads vanished again and reappeared near the house. Both of them then fused back together. 'Interesting indeed.'

"Sakura, are you alright?" Ranma asked after she untied her sister. Her response was a pair of tear-filled eyes and a slow nod. "Don't worry about a thing, Sakura. Didn't I tell you that'd I'd always be here for you? I won't allow that bastard to hurt you ever again." She shouldn't have even gotten a black-eye to begin with.

The youngest child of Nodoka leapt up and grabbed hold of her sibling. "Ranma-neechan! I knew you'd save me. You're the best in the whole world, after-all!" She didn't care if anybody said otherwise. To her, the cat-girl was the greatest ever.

"Take your time with the emotional reunion." The strange man said as he ate a piece of cake. "This gives me some time to enjoy the cake that I bought yesterday." He licked his lips of the frosting that had been there. "You know, you should really try this."

Growling at the blonde man for what he just did, the crimson-eyed 11-year-old gently handed Sakura over to Washu and the others. "Watch after her. This guy's going to pay for what he did." Standing up, she continued to ignore everyone telling her to wait as she turned around and centered her vision onto the guy who seemed to be finished with his cake. "Who the hell are you?" She finally growled out.

The smirk on the man sent a feeling of loathing down her spine. "Razzlof, simply Razzlof. It's nothing personal, but I'm just here to rough you up a little. If I kill you, then that's your problem, isn't it?" The way that he just casually said that caused Ranma to feel even more annoyance, but she managed to smirk through her anger.

"Gee, I wonder how many times I've heard people talk about killing me. You realize how old that gets?" Now that she was starting to feel on familiar ground, her anger began to drift away. She was still angry, but she wasn't clouded by it. "I take it whoever sent you was too cowardly to even come himself? C'mon, what did I ever do to the person? Is it because of some petty rivalry? Someone promise something that can't be done? Oh, I know! This person is just a stupid and cowardly power-hungry bastard who feels threatened by an 11-year-old girl." Oh yeah, her opponent was starting to get angry now himself.

"How dare you disrespect Lord D--" Razzlof slapped his hand over his mouth before he said the name. He then began to chuckle, and that chuckle turned into a full belly laugh. "I see what you're trying to do now."

"Huh?" What was she trying to do?

The tanned man waved a finger. "You're trying to get me to reveal the name of my lord. Well, that won't happen. I'm onto you, you little witch!" He shouted as he pointed to the redhead and began to laugh again. "I'm too smart for your mind games. You shall never get me to tell you about D--" He slapped his hand over his mouth again. "Oh, you are _**GOOD**_."

Ranma -- and the members of the Masaki household -- could only stare with while sharing a sweat-drop. "Yeah… I guess I am." The cat-girl managed to let out as she kept wondering just what the hell was going on. She suddenly found herself blocking a punch that was aimed for her head. With her eyes narrowed, the former Saotome sent out a quick kick that managed to catch the guy in the stomach and knock him back a few feet. She then proceeded to rush forward and give him a knee to the chin before he recovered. Crimson eyes watched as the blonde man went sailing back a little ways. Not wasting any time, she called a stronger fireball into her hand and shot it forward. A smile came to her when she saw that it hit the man dead-on. That should leave a nice mark on his face.

Then again, seeing him walking out of the blast while clapping his hands without even a scratch wasn't good. "That had a nice bit of power behind it, but it was a little weak, Ranma." The man stated before calling a little bit of magic of his own into his hands. This actually startled the redheaded martial artist/sorceress, and it allowed her opponent to toss the ball of electricity into her. There was nothing like the feeling of several hundred volts of electricity coursing through your body to make you feel the need to get serious.

"This might be interesting." The cat-girl stated as she sat there on one knee to get the feeling back into her body. It has been a couple years since she had a true fight like this, and she was ready. As she got back to both feet, a catty grin found its way onto her face. "Alright Razzy, let's have a little fun. I'm going to kick your face in and force you to apologize to Sakura."

"Sounds like you have an _**ALMOST **_solid plan there, Kitty Cat."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

'Hmm… so Ranma's already starting to have a little fun.' Xellos thought to himself as he watched the scene from one of the trees surrounding the area. 'I might as well make myself comfy and watch.' The purple-haired mazouku was interested to see how well the cat-girl could do against an opponent such as the one she was currently facing. 'Hopefully with so many powerful people in this area, I won't have to interfere. I really do hate that.'

Due to the Priest of Zelas being busy watching the scene in front of him, he didn't notice a small robotic sphere float up next to his ear. What he _**DID**_ notice was the horror and mind-bending torture that came out of it. As he sat there and clutched his head, the dreaded 'Cuppy Cake' song continued to play next to his ear. "After all these years, you still have this trap set out for me, Washu." He groaned out as he ran away. Listening to that was a fate worse than death.

xxA.Nxx

Dang this was a long chapter to do, but it's finally been finished.

Washu + Incredible Knowledge --- Aphrodisiac? It makes sense, doesn't it?

The fuku earlier is in no way supposed to be taken seriously, in fact, it's mostly an amusing little joke that may appear off and on. Look in my profile, and you'll see a drawing of it.


	15. Scientists and the Pompom

Wild Magic

Ranma 1/2, Slayers, and any other series used in this fanfic are owned by their respective creators/publishers/whatever

Thanks to CyberSkaarj and the members of Fukufics for pre-reading

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Chapter 15

As Ranma and her opponent were facing off outside, a group of people, who called the Masaki place their home, watched in curiosity. "It's not that I don't have confidence in Ranma, Washu, but do you think she could really handle that guy?" Tenchi asked with a little worry. "I mean, if he's like most of the people who come by to attack, then Ranma will need our help." It was known by all the residents of that place that with nine times out of ten, the younger redhead often found herself in over her head. The cat-girl didn't lack skill, but she did lack the physical body to fully pull it off. The body of a child makes it difficult to do things that a teenager or adult could.

"I would have to agree that Ranma-chan probably doesn't stand a chance against that man." Ayeka stated in concern. "An 11-year-old child -- no matter what her current skill is -- can't possibly do it alone." The most reasonable thing would be to have everyone help. Their combined abilities should be enough.

"Do not interfere with this unless you are truly needed." The voice of Katsuhito stated from behind everyone. This caused them to turn around and look at him in confusion. "This is currently Ranma's fight, and her biggest reason is to get revenge for what this man did to Sakura." He gave a small glance to the young girl in question who was lying in Washu's arms and looking outside. "Interrupting this when she doesn't need any help at the moment will only cause her to feel as if she failed in what she was trying to do. Wait until she is in need of help."

Ayeka frowned at what the man was saying. "But Yosho, what if she is completely in over her head from the start of--"

She was interrupted when Ranma yelled at her. "Mind your own damn business, Queen of Sadism." It was nine years ago when the young redhead had found the Juraian princess attempting to show Tenchi the way of 'Jurai Royal Family Bridegroom Training'. If they thought she'd just let the poor guy go through that, then they were mistaken. The cat-girl took it upon herself to rescue him from it, and the insult 'Queen of Sadism' for Ayeka seemed to stick. It was also highly amusing whenever it was blurted out in public. "If you interfere when I don't need it, I'll kick your ass all the way back to Jurai!"

A smirk played across Ryoko's face as she looked towards the purple-haired princess. "You know, I think she just might mean it, princess." It always amused her whenever the young cat-girl got lippy with the purple-haired girl. "I want to see how she'll do against this guy. We haven't had some super strong loser come by in a couple of years to try and off one of us, so I'm curious about how she'll do."

"Teach that guy a lesson, Ranma-neechan!" Sakura yelled out with her fists balled up. "Show him he's just a big idiot head!" That outburst caused everyone to stare at her.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma pointed her thumb behind her. "You hear that? That's one of the reasons that I'm going to kick your ass back to where you came." She stated with a wide smirk that managed to show off her feline fangs. "Maybe afterwards, you can be so kind as to tell me just who the hell has it in for me." She'd like to at least know the name of the person. It was annoying when your enemy didn't reveal themselves.

Razzlof scratched the back of his head and sighed. "Jeez you're a confident little human. Too bad confidence does not mean you will win." Quickly, the demon rushed forward to end the fight by planting a fist into the cat-girl's gut. His target ducked and attempted to do a leg-sweep, but Razzlof jumped over it and tossed a fireball downward towards the lowered girl. Teleporting out of the way, Ranma called for the Balus Rod spell to try and hit her opponent in the back with the whip of light. To her shock, he caught the whip in his hand and gave a yank. As the 11-year-old was being pulled in, the blonde man grinned and sent a quick punch to hit her right in the face.

Wide-eyed, Ranma quickly moved her hand to block the incoming attack. The power of the punch almost knocked the back of her hand into her face. Quickly canceling the Balus Rod, the 11-year-old sent a punch to the gut of her taller opponent and almost knocked a little wind out of him. After quickly teleporting away from Razzlof, the man began looking around for her. "Where the hell did she go?" Eyes narrowing, he jumped and avoided an energy sword charging out of the ground. Seeing the top part of the cat-girl's head phase above the ground, he frowned. "Damn it, why the hell didn't these strange abilities get logged?" He -- like most of the others -- determined that the girl only possessed some of her magic potential and possibly martial arts ability from that previous life they had learned about.

"Maybe it's because you demons suck?" A voice asked behind him. Turning around, the tanned demon caught sight of a smirking bicolor-eyed cat-girl before his vision was momentarily seeing stars. The punch sent him crashing down into the earth, but it didn't do much except wound his pride. Having trouble with an 11-year-old girl was not a good thing to have on your record. With a growl, Razzlof charged towards his opponent and vanished at the last second before coming in contact. "What the helGAH!" She shouted as several thousand volts of electricity started coursing through her body. When it finished, her form was twitching slightly due to the voltage.

"Never underestimate the power of a demon, kitty." Her opponent stated as she found a pair of arms snaked around her own. "You know, I wonder what would happen if I sent you crashing into something at full speed. I imagine you'd get a few broken bones, wouldn't you?" The blonde demon asked with a hint of bloodlust in his voice. It died out when he found an energy sword imbedded in his arm from behind. Wincing in pain, he turned around to see Ranma -- her body still slightly twitchy with arcs of electricity -- standing with a smirk on her face. "Wha the-- how did-- but I--" Grabbing what he was holding by the collar, he noticed that he held a doll in the exact likeness of the cat-girl.

A small laugh escaped the student of Washu. "You don't spend nine years learning from someone without learning a few of their tricks. She may be eccentric, but underestimating her is not something that one should do." She tapped her chin for a second. "You know, you can keep that if you want. Think of it as a memento from our battle."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"So she did learn how to do it. I wonder when she managed that." Washu commented with a voice that showed curiosity. She was also proud that her long-term student had managed to copy a little more than lessons. "I wonder what else she picked up from me."

The assembled group glanced at each other for a moment before shivering at the thought of Ranma gaining a few personality quirks from the diminutive genius. "I really hope that we don't end up having two eccentric redheads running around." Ryoko commented dryly. "Washu is eccentric enough for us all." She suddenly found her cheek being pulled by said redhead's hand.

"What was it you just said, oh dear daughter of mine?" Washu asked in a slightly innocent -- yet clearly threatening -- manner. "You better apologize to your mother, Ryoko-chan. Otherwise I might have to put you over my knee and teach you a few manners."

"S-- sorry… mother." The cyan-haired woman stated while sweating. She did not want to have the woman experiment on her again.

Releasing Ryoko's cheek, the scientific genius brought forth her holographic laptop and started to do a little scanning of the two combatants. She needed to update her scans on Ranma, and she also needed check out the powers of this new guy. Getting the results of her scanning, her eyes gained a slight twinkle. 'Let's see if you manage to pull anything interesting out of the bag, Ranma-chan.'

"Do you think momma will be alright, Washu-baasan?" Laira asked in a little concern. Of course, Sakura kept on saying that 'Ranma-neechan would beat that guy's butt'.

"Don't worry. If anything goes wrong, everybody can always step in and take over." Besides, Washu wanted to see if a large fight like this would help the cat-girl in any way.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Razzlof snarled as he set the doll on fire and turned it into ash. "You're just toying with me, aren't you?" He asked in annoyance as he gave a glare towards Ranma. When he noticed the shrug coming from his opponent, he had to pull in his anger so he didn't make a mistake. Calming down, the blond demon rushed forward and vanished for the second time from Ranma's vision. Looking around for a second, the redhead smirked before spinning around quickly and kicking Razzlof in his stomach, momentarily knocking a little wind out of him. Not wasting any time, the cat-girl proceeded to use the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken and end the punches with a kick that knocked her opponent into the ground.

"Digu Volt!" Ranma shouted as a ball of lightning appeared in front of her hand and shot off towards the downed demon. The end result was a small explosion that kicked up dust and debris. Blue/red eyes narrowed as the dust cleared to show that her target wasn't in the blast zone at all. "Crap!" Turning around quickly, she raised her arms and blocked a powerful punch that ended up sending her careening towards the Masaki house. She managed to stop just before she hit. 'This guy sure loves to do sneak attacks, and he's strong too.' Ranma thought as she massaged her arms a little and noticed a couple of large bruises. She also noticed that Razzlof only had a few minor scratches.

"You know, I really thought this would be just a simple matter. I mean, you're only 11-years-old -- a mere child. Not many demons of similar age could put up such an annoyance as you." Several sweat-drops met that statement. Were these people really fighting without full knowledge of just who exactly Ranma was and what she could do? "It seems our information team has been slacking greatly, but no matter." Pointing his hand forward, Razzlof shot off a stream of lightning towards the redhead.

Looking behind her, Ranma gave off a sigh in noticing that if she moved, the house would be damaged, and having the house become damaged was getting pretty old. Raising her right hand, she proceeded to call forth a small force field to block the incoming attack. When it hit, the spell met resistance at first, but managed to get through and hit the cat-girl. "Gah, stupid masu force field is just a bunch of crap!" She stated with annoyance as her body twitched. Being electrocuted a second time was not fun at all.

"Ranma," Washu began from the door of the Masaki house, "remember how I said that your masu abilities develop as you age? With time, it will be strong enough to block something of that speed, power, and voltage." The genius finished as she typed on her computer. "At the moment, the power of your force field is less than half of what Ryoko's is. Then again, she is 5,000-years-old." Ryoko was about to say something when Washu sent her a glare.

Ranma grumbled at hearing that her masu abilities still relatively sucked when compared to the cyan-haired woman. Shooting forward towards her opponent, she began to try and throw a few punches and kicks. To her annoyance, Razzlof merely laughed and dodged. With her next punch, the blonde demon ducked and sent a punch to her stomach. The force of the punch caused her to bend forward and start coughing. "I guess it doesn't matter how powerful you currently are." Her nemesis stated as he used a finger to raise her chin. "You are still just an 11-year-old." He flicked her on the nose and started to chuckle. "Maybe you'd make a good servant, seeing as how you kind of suck at fighting me."

The cat-girl's eyes turned red as she started growling. She didn't notice until after it happened, but her hair moved forward a little before shooting off a barrage of needles. Razzlof dropped her as his hand shot to his face. "GAH! You damn bitch!" He shouted as he tried to subdue the pain.

Ranma's eyes turned back to normal as she looked on in minor confusion. 'Did… I just shoot off my hair as needles?' After a second, it dawned on her that she did. She remembered seeing Ryoko do the same thing a few times. 'Ha, it's like Washu said! My masu abilities still are growing.' Looking towards Razzlof, Ranma winced a little at seeing one of the needles sticking out of his eye. 'Ouch, he's probably going to be a little pissed at me when he removes all those needles.'

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Everyone in the house blinked and turned to look at Washu. The redheaded genius was currently laughing joyously. "Why are you so happy, Washu-chan?" Sasami asked curiously. Usually when the genius laughed happily like that, it signaled the coming of some odd crackpot thing.

The greatest scientific genius in the universe put her fists to her hips and gave off a bright smile. "Ranma-chan never ceases to surprise me. She's able to advance her abilities at a nice rate, and she learns quickly when I teach her." She started laughing a little more. "I knew she would possibly become my greatest project to date when I first healed her nine years ago with some masu DNA and a couple nutritional juices to keep her from becoming ill to the DNA. I'm such a genius!"

"So I'm just one of your many projects, Washu-_**chan**_?" A voice asked in a slightly sweet tone with a hint of coldness to it that caused most of the people in the room to shiver.

The crab-haired genius was too caught up in her own little world and thoughts to recognize the voice and what she was thinking. "One of the _**GREATEST**_ long-term proje--" A sweat-drop formed on Washu's head as she turned around to the sight of a _**SLIGHTLY**_ annoyed Ranma. In this case, _**SLIGHTLY **_annoyed would mean a pair of crimson eyes with a faint red aura outline. "I only got caught up in the heat of the moment, Ranma-chan, ha-ha-ha. It was only a minor joke." The diminutive genius laughed as she scratched the back of her head. Everyone realized -- after a few moments -- that the Ranma in the house was currently a doppelganger.

"Feh," the double stated as she turned around to calm down, "I distinctly remember you saying that you don't joke around, Washu-_**chan**_." Ranma finished in annoyance. "Great, I'm just a blasted long-term project for a mad scientist. Doesn't that just figure?" The younger redhead's tail swished around angrily as her ears twitched violently. "Well, it makes sense I guess."

Washu felt a few looks aimed towards her back, and it didn't take a genius to realize what that meant. Walking up to her student, the 20,000-year-old woman draped an arm around Ranma's shoulder. "Oh come on, Ranma-chan. You know how I am when it comes to things like this." Bringing out her eccentric side, she hugged the younger redhead and rubbed her cheek against Ranma's head. She then began to talk in a childish voice. "You were just so cute as a two-year-old that I couldn't resist making you a guinea pig!"

"Yeah, I know. I'm just one of your experiments and projects. I know the blasted drill." Ranma stated as she teleported out of the hold and behind the emerald-eyed genius. "Trying to cover that up is just showing that you don't realize that I'm not stupid anymore."

"Oh come on, Ranma-chan. I may have started out thinking of you as a small project, but I actually stopped thinking like that several years ago." Washu answered back as she tried to keep the martial artist/sorceress from getting angrier. "Really, you aren't a project of mine anymore. You are more like--" Before she could finish what she was about to say, the doppelganger vanished. "Great, now she's probably angry beyond anything." The genius grumbled as she massaged her forehead.

"Washu-chan--" Tenchi began

"When this battle is over, she and I need to have a small talk." Washu rambled on as she typed away on her computer while ignoring everyone else around her. "Having her pissed off at me is not something I like."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Razzlof was surprised when he suddenly found a fist to his face, followed by a kick to both his stomach and neck. After he had removed the sharp and pointy needles from his face -- as well as the one that was in his eye, -- he had found himself putting the cat-girl on the defensive. Sure, she had dodged and returned his magic, but she hadn't been doing too well. Then, all of a sudden, she seemed to get completely pissed off and started attacking without mercy. He actually 'eeped' when he saw another barrage of needles heading his way. Dodging out of the way, he saw Ranma appear in front of him to plant another fist into his face. Reacting quickly, he called forth a fireball and jabbed it into her stomach. The result was Ranma careening away until the fireball exploded.

He was about to catch his breath when an energy sword stabbed him through the back. Turning his head, the blonde demon noticed the crimson-eyed glare he was receiving from the cat-girl. "I will admit something to you, girl." He felt a little more pressure with the sword. "You are way better than I thought you'd be, but your anger is clouding your judgment." So saying, he knocked her away with his elbow. As Ranma was holding her nose, Razzlof grabbed her arm. Pulling her towards him, he kneed her in the stomach. He then brought his fists down and knocked her into the ground. "Disfang!" The tanned demon shouted as his shadow turned into a dragon and charged for Ranma's. When it was right on top of her, the shadow creature bit the arm of her shadow.

With a small shout of pain, the cat-girl grabbed her arm and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, they widened in shock when she saw her opponent casting another spell. "Dynast Brass!" Razzlof shouted as a ball of lightning appeared in the air above Ranma. She watched as the lightning rained down on her in a pentagram. The attack then snaked across the ground towards her and filled her with a few thousand volts from five different angles. After the attack, she fell forward onto her hands and knees. "You know, it's kind of fun to knock you around. Your screams of pain are quite delicious." The tanned demon raised an eyebrow when the girl managed to stand up. "You're a stubborn little kitten, aren't you?"

"Just-- shut up-- you-- stupid bastard." Ranma managed to get out as her body continued to twitch from the electricity that went through her body. She was bruised, battered, burned, and several other things, but she refused to give up to this demon and ask for help. She couldn't count how many times she had to have everybody else help her because of her damn child's body. "I'm going to kick your ass--" The cat-girl was interrupted when her opponent appeared right in front of her and kicked her into a tree.

Razzlof was about to move forward when he found himself stuck in place. Looking to the side, he noticed that an energy sword was stabbing his shadow. "Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken revised: Cat Frenzy!" Ranma shouted as she proceeded to combine her ki claws with Amaguriken speed. The result of the attack was a very scratched and bloody demon with part of his left arm missing. "Hiryu Shoten Ha revised: Cutting Winds of Hell!" The cat-girl yelled out another revision to her skill. It was the Hiryu Shoten Ha, but it was also combined with a little bit of wind magic to make the winds almost razor sharp. After finishing up the attack, Ranma stepped backwards to rest a little. She figured that with that much damage, the guy would have a little trouble getting around. At least, that was until she heard a noise.

"Maaaaaan, I should have just ended it right when we started." The voice of Razzlof cursed. "This is going to take weeks to heal." Looking up, the young cat-girl noticed her opponent. He was bruised, battered, bloodied, cut-up, and had several other injuries, but was still standing. "Damn bitch." He said as he pointed a hand towards her and shot off a strong blast of wind magic. The wind itself didn't cause any damage, but it sent Ranma careening into a tree. She then found the blonde demon's good hand holding her by the throat as he uses one of his knees to kick her in the stomach. "Feh, you're supposed to be the reincarnation of Lina Inverse? I heard stories about how that girl defeated demons stronger than me." Pulling her back from the tree, Razzlof slammed her into it again.

"I… said… shut up!" Ranma stated as she managed to bite him on the hand. When the tanned demon dropped her, Ranma found that her vision seemed to be fading out. As she blacked out, she only caught a little of the residents of the Masaki house making their move on Razzlof. 'This completely sucks.' She managed to think before darkness claimed her.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The first that that Ranma noticed when her eyes fluttered open was that she was currently within a familiar place that she hadn't had to be in for a few years. She found herself floating in one of Washu's healing tanks. It took a few more moments before her mind caught up to what exactly had happened, and why she was stuck in a tank full of liquid and tubes. Of course, once she remembered why she was in her current predicament, Ranma gave off a sigh. 'Well, at least I managed to last longer than the last strong psycho who came through here.' She still figured that at the rate she was currently at, she needed about a year or two more before she was back to her former level of abilities before she died.

'Momma, you're awake!' The cat-girl winced at the loud shout over the link she had with Laira. It wasn't long before the cabbit -- in her child form -- appeared in front of the healing tube. 'I didn't think you'd ever wake up, and Sakura was worried as well. You looked really hurt!'

'Keep it down, Laira. Your shouting is giving me a headache.' The cabbit blushed a little at that. 'How long was I out anyway? It couldn't have been more than a day and a half.' Laira shook her head. 'Two days?' There was another shake. 'Three days then?' A nod accompanied the last question. 'Then I must have been really exhausted and injured.'

Before Laira could respond, Washu silenced her with a hand on her head. "Glad you could join us in the land of the living again, Ranma-chan." The genius stated with a grin as she moved over to the computer connected to the healing tank. "You had quite a few broken and fractured bones, burn damage due to the electric voltage, and numerous other forms of injuries from your fight. Luckily, you have an effective quick healing ability and my great regeneration tank. I do believe you are quite familiar with the tank and liquid." Her answer came when her patient stuck out her tongue. "Anyway, all scans say that your body is back to normal, but you'll have to have a couple of days of normal rest before you are ready to do any crazy stunts." Pressing a final button, the liquid in the tank drained out. A few seconds later, the tubes and wires pulled themselves out of the young cat-girl before the tank lifted up.

"You know, I don't think I'll ever get used to being in one of those. The liquid makes my skin crawl." Ranma found herself being helped up by Laira. Walking towards her teacher, the younger redhead looked up. "So, could I at least have some clothes now?" That was one of the things she always hated about finding herself in one of those tanks. The fact that she'd be floating there for the entire world to see was annoying. Then again, this area of Washu's lab was a place that nobody could get to without the genius letting them come here. Then again, Mihoshi had a habit of often finding her way into places like this somehow.

With a snap of her fingers, a small sub-space hole appeared by Washu's shoulder, and a change of clothes floated out and into her hand. "You know, I really need to teach you how to do something like this. It's much more effective than your partial ability at using that inferior Hidden Weapons technique." While holding the clothing in her hand, Washu tapped her chin. "I can see why people consider you flat-chested." She stated with a smirk as she poked the younger in the chest.

The clothing in her hand was grabbed quickly by a slightly blushing cat-girl who managed to throw the outfit on in almost a split second. Said outfit consisted of a black long-sleeved shirt with a red cat's head on the back, and the pants red in color with -- just like the underwear-- a hole in the back for Ranma's tail. Once fully dressed, the bicolor-eyed redhead looked towards Washu. "Whatever happened to that Razzlof guy?" It was slightly annoying that she had to get help from that, but the fight showed that she still needed some training.

"Well, after you fell unconscious, we made the move against him. It didn't take too long to bring him down since you weakened him to the level he was currently at. Tennyo, Airi, and Noike got back from their small trip to the Galaxy Police and caught sight of it. They jumped in with Tenchi as you blacked out. Tenchi was able to just use the sword while Ayeka held Razzlof in place with the electricity field from her mini-logs. Ryoko also jumped in with her own energy sword, and Sasami used her staff. Mihoshi-- well-- She's Mihoshi." With a smirk, the genius held up a small jar to show her student the small form of Razzlof trying to attach his own appendages. "I decided to make him a test subject of mine to learn more about the inner-workings of demons. I sealed off his powers and shrunk him to this size. It'll take a little while for him to piece himself together, but by that time I'll have changed him back to normal size, but he'll still have no access to his abilities or magic." Washu started to laugh a little maniacally. "I think it'll be fun to have a test subject with so much power. He'll make a great guinea pig." The small form of Razzlof was beating his good fist against the glass and yelling something that couldn't be heard.

That brought a frown to Ranma. "Yeah, it's just another of one of your many guinea pig projects, right Washu-_**chan**_?" Laira looked towards her with slight worry, and Washu gave off a deep sigh.

"Alright Ranma-chan, I'll admit it. When you first came here nine-years-ago, I first thought of you as a perfect guinea pig/project. You had high ki reserves, one of the largest mana reserves I've ever seen, the mind of someone in their late teens, a high healing factor, and various other small things. I didn't need to inject you with Masu DNA, but I also wanted to witness someone who had Masu in them grow. Sure there's Ryoko, but I was imprisoned by Kagato almost right after I created her. I couldn't watch her and her Masu abilities grow. I thought this would be a good opportunity for something like that, and the idea of teaching you so that you'd become a genius yourself was also hard to put down." The annoyed look on Ranma's face caused her to actually feel bad for what she did. "There's more to it, though." That caught the cat-girl's attention. "I mostly thought of you as one of my greatest long-term projects for about three years. I'd hate to admit it, but you kind of grew on me after that. I actually started thinking fully of you as both a student and someone who was like my own child. The event three days ago caused me to automatically think back."

Ranma studied the diminutive genius for a few moments. One of the things that she learned about her cat side some time ago was that she had a slight way of smelling the aura around someone. She still wasn't too good at it, but she could sense out if someone was blatantly lying or telling the truth. Of course, it was difficult for her to tell when the person was in control of their emotions. She figured it would still take a few more years for that. At the moment, Ranma couldn't sense any falseness in what Washu was saying. She could also almost feel that it was the truth. "Jeez, why the hell can't I ever stay mad at you? You've done enough to me that would make any normal person hate your guts."

She suddenly found herself in a tight hug with Washu rubbing her cheek against her head and talking in a childish voice. "It's because you love me, Ranma-chan. Why else would you be able to put up with someone of my caliber?" The diminutive genius didn't hear the one she was holding mutter something about 'troublesome chousins'. "Oh yes, and Ranma-chan," Washu started as she let go of the other redhead, "I should inform you on something I did to your mini-computer." At Ranma's look, she continued. "Being the greatest scientific genius that I am, I managed to tweak your mini-computer so that outside interferences such as magic and powerful electrical currents won't be able to interfere with it. This means that the magical interference of Hogwarts and areas around it won't be able to stop you from doing what you need to do with assignments and messages that will now be sent to you via your computer. It's much better than the owl I had to use."

"You just want me to use this thing more often, don't you?" Well, at least she'd be able to have something to help her for whenever she was bored beyond reason. "On second thought, thanks for doing that, Washu-chan." Ranma said as she brought out her computer and started to fiddle with it. Glancing up, she was slightly shocked when Washu gave her a small kiss on the forehead. "Wha--" She started to say with a small blush.

"You're just the cutest little thing!" The quite eccentric 20,000-year-old stated with a laugh. "The gleam you get in your eye when you learn something new about martial arts, magical arts, and technological arts reminds me so much of myself! You might even be able to rival me, someday." She was disappointed when Ranma ignored her and started to check out her mini-computer. 'Disrespectful children these days.'

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After making their way out of Washu's lab, Ranma found herself trapped in a hug by Mihoshi who whined about her being ok. After a few moments of calming down the blonde, the bicolor-eyed redhead was finally out of her death-grip and made her way to the living room. She was slightly disappointed that Sakura was already back with Nodoka and Genma, but was happy when she learned that her former mother was grateful beyond words over what the cat-girl did to try and protect Sakura. Ranma also had to laugh a little at knowing her younger sister still thought of her as the greatest thing in the world -- even though she couldn't defeat the 'mean booger-head of a man'.

After getting re-acquainted with everyone after her three-day absence, she decided to go back to browsing the information she gained from the computer on the moon. As she hovered a couple of feet above the ground with her legs crossed and the electronic in front of her, she came to something that piqued her interest. "Hey, what's this?" She asked herself. It was loud enough, however, to attract the attention of the other inhabitants of the room. "It's something about a bunch of warriors known as the Sailor Senshi." She vaguely remembered her confrontation with the Senshi of Time. 'Oh yeah, Sailor Pluto must be one of those.'

"The Sailor Senshi are considered by some to be an extension of the Galaxy Police." Airi commented while tapping her chin. "They are people who are technically chosen by a planet to be their guardian, and they exist throughout the universe. There's actually a Sailor Jurai, but she doesn't appear in public all that much due to the Juraian Royal guards being strong enough to stop most attacks. She did, however, appear once when Ryoko attacked Jurai all those years ago."

Ryoko -- who was currently in the rafters -- slapped a fist into her hand. "Oh yeah, I've met a few of those during my space pirate days. Girls who often had short skirts and flashy attacks. You know, I killed quite a few of them back then when I destroyed some planets." The cyan-haired masu finished while scratching the back of her head and laughing. She stopped when a few glares were directed her way. "Hey, I can't help it. I was Kagato's slave at the time." She added while waving her hands.

Ranma ignored the scene going on and continued to type away. She soon came to an entry about a planet called Mau. Apparently the people looked human, but had the ears and tail of a cat. 'Ha, I could probably fit in quite well with them.' The cat-girl then noticed the part about most of the inhabitants of the planet being able to turn into full cats, and that they seemed to have developed several different kinds of martial arts. Of course, that info on martial arts caught her eye more than anything.

"Planet Mau, huh?" Washu asked from her the younger redhead's shoulder. This caused Ranma to almost jump out of her skin. "I've never visited that planet before, but I've heard of it." The genius clapped her hands. "I know," she started with eyes twinkling, "during your summer vacation after being with Narcissa, you can go and visit that planet. You can chart out different landscapes, culture, and everything else on that planet so I can put it in my databanks. That computer on the moon had info on that planet, but the info is greatly outdated." The diminutive woman patted Ranma on the head. "You can even get a chance to check out those martial arts the Mau supposedly have."

At the last part, the cat-girl's eyes began to twinkle at the thought of inter-planetary martial arts. "You're the best, Washu-chan!" The crab-haired scientist started laughing maniacally at that statement. She then found an arm wrapped around her shoulder.

"And maybe someday my charm will rub off on you, Ranma-chan!" Of course, everyone in the room started to think of two Washu's and shivered. The universe could not handle two redheads with eccentric behavior that was off the charts. Completely oblivious to these thoughts, Ranma resumed browsing through the information that she had collected. After a few moments of this, she found herself at the list of Sailor Senshi that used to protect the planets of this galaxy. Going down the list, she came to a name that sounded like it didn't belong at all. Her curiosity piqued, she clicked on it to see who 'Sailor Pompom' was.

What she saw caused her to jump back and nearly drop her laptop. "You can not be serious!" She shouted as she pulled the device back towards her and observed with a twitchy eye. She noticed that everyone in the room was curious about her reaction. Putting it out of her mind, she went back to reading the article until she found a video clip that she could click that detailed the creation of Sailor Pompom. Clicking on the link, she watched as a beam shot out of the back of the computer and created a large movie screen. Washu -- happy that her holo-screen function was being put to use -- quickly proceeded to dim the lighting in the room and bring in some popcorn as the video feed started.

"_D-- Do we finally 'ave the damn t'ing working?" An obviously drunk man in a scientist outfit asked as he backed up from the screen. A few other men in lab-coats -- and some people in cloaks -- appeared next to the man. All of them seemed to be drunk -- if the color of their cheeks and the slight slur in their speeches were any indication. "I know that we are shupposhed to be sherious and create t'ings that benefit the Moon Kingdom, but even we deshire our fun ones in a while." The other men -- and a couple women -- gave a vigorous nod as the attempted to stay on their feet. "Today we will be creating a Sailor Senshi, but not jusht any Sailor Senshi, but one that will be created just to shee if we want ta do will be poshible."_

_The people moved out of the way to reveal a young girl of about nine-years-old. Her hair was orange and spiked upwards. Her eyes were closed, and she was lying -- nude and motionless -- on a table. It was obvious by the rise and fall of her chest that she was sound asleep. With a slightly maniacal giggle with the force that only a drunk could make, the head scientist appeared again in front of the camera. "For the eshperiment that we are doing, we will be ushing my darling daughter, Mezara. Of coursh, since my daughter is an incredible tomboy and has shtated that she would never be caught dead in a Sailor Senshi outfit, we're going ta have a little fun." There was a massive bout of giggling in the background as several of the scientists and mages proceeded to attach small wires to the unconscious child. After all the wires and tubes were attached, one of the mages appeared in front of Mezara and started to work a bit of magic._

_After a few moments of chanting, a crystal seemed to almost pop out of the child's chest. It was about a minute longer that the crystal was fully visible. Instantly, the cloaked man called a few of the other mages over. As they made their way over -- through the use of constant stumbling due to alcohol, -- the scientists made their way over to a machine that was connected to the wires and tubes. As they pressed buttons and pulled levers, the lead scientist gave a thumbs up to the mages so they could start doing their part._

_As the machine started to hum and feed information, the mages got to work with forcing magic into the odd crystal that was floating above the young child. The spell and the machines seemed to almost take forever, but something finally seemed to be happening. The crystal floating above the child changed shape into something different. With this, everyone stopped what they were doing and began to stumble into different spots of the room while the cloaked figure who removed the crystal started another spell. Soon, the differently shaped crystal floated back into the body of the sleeping redhead._

"_Alright, it'sh finished. Now we jusht 'ave to waken my daughter." The lead scientist stated with another maniacal drunken giggle. Moving over towards the sleeping girl, he produced a small device. "The mosht amusing would be ta deliver a mild electric shock." Placing the device against the girl's arm, he pressed a button. The next moment, the young orange-haired girl jumped almost several feet in the air and screamed in pain while holding her arm._

"_What the hell did you do that for?!" The girl shouted. Blinking, she looked around and found that she also felt a little cold. She soon found that she wasn't wearing any clothes and 'eeped'. "Damn it, Old Man! Why do you always do this stupid stuff to me? It was only a month ago that you dyed my hair neon purple and pink and wrote 'idiot' on my forehead. What the hell prank did you find amusing this time that you had to put knock-out drops in my food?!" She soon caught a small object that was tossed towards her. Glancing at it, Mezara's entire body paled. "No, I refuse, damn it. I refuse to be seen in one of those pervert's wet dream!" She was stopped in her ranting when her father gave her a small smack on top of her head with a ruler. "Owie, why'd you do that?" She asked with tears in her eyes._

"_Hmm… no reason at all." He had to dodge the lunge of an angry nine-year-old. "Mezara, please just use the transformation pen." The lead scientist finished as he tried to push down the effects of his alcohol._

_Mezara gave off a small pout. "Fine, I guess it won't be so bad. I'll get a few fun and interesting moves, and I'll be able to help against bad people." Raising the pen above her, she said the first thing that popped into her mind. "Pompom cutie, make-up-- wait-- what!?" There was a blinding flash of light, and after a moment, Mezara stood in her Senshi outfit. Glancing down, her eyes widened in horror before she screamed and started to run around the room. The outfit had a white body-suit, elbow-length gloves, and knee-length boots. On the chest area was a large light purple bow with pink frills on the sides, and the same pattern was repeated on the bows at her waist -- between the skirt and fuku base, -- back, wrists of her gloves, and top of her head. Light purple ribbons with pink frills were tied to the end of her gloves and boots, with the gloves and boots themselves having pink frills as well. Her fuku collar and skirt were light purple with pink frills, and the choker around her neck was also purple with pink frills. Her tall and spiky hair had changed so that it flowed down the back of her head. The tiara on her head was gold with a large pink gem in the center. She even had light pink make-up adorning her face. If that wasn't enough to make someone gag, then the glitter should have achieved just that. The glitter was everywhere on her body, and she left a trail of it whenever she moved._

_While Mezara was running around in a panic, her father and several others were having a drink while laughing. "I'm going to __**KILL**__ you, old man!" Pushing her hands forward, the newly created Sailor Pompom yelled off an attack. "Magical Rainbow Beam!" A multi-colored beam flew out of her hands and hit the man that was her father. To Mezara's frustration, absolutely nothing happened except make them all laugh. "G-- Glitter Storm!" Raisin a gloved hand, Sailor Pompom blew air into her hand. What happened next was a cloud of glitter that traveled to the scientist. The only thing it managed to do was cover them in glitter. "P-- p-- Pompom Barrage!" Pompoms materialized in her hand, and when she threw them, nothing happened. The only outcome to all this was that the scientists and mages were laughing while enjoying their drinks. This caused the young nine-year-old to start crying. She soon ran out of the room as the laughing got louder. _

"_Another prank upon my daughter is a success!" The Mezara's father shouted as he raised his bottle. "I wonder what I could do to top this one. Maybe I could drop glue on her stick her to the wall while dressed as a chicken. Oh wait, I already did that once. Well, whatever I plan next, I will--"_

"_Ahem!" A voice stated from behind the lead scientist. "Kojiro Serashi of the Scientist Squad III, I believe we need to have a small talk about something." The voice was familiar, and it caused the now named Kojiro to turn around slowly to see the person in charge of the voice. The aforementioned person didn't look happy at all._

"_Q-- Queen Serenity, what a pleasant surprise." The man stated nervously. Looking down, he noticed that Mezara was holding onto the gown of the Queen of the Moon and crying while the Queen's Daughter, Princess Serenity, was trying help calm the distraught redhead. "T-- to what do I owe this meeting to?"_

"_Kojiro Serashi, it has come to my attention that over the past couple of years, you have pulled pranks and humiliated your daughter. While some of these were while you were apparently drunk, I had an investigation into your activities started and noticed that most were while you were fully sober. After that glue incident, I went to inquire about everything around Mezara Serashi, and that's when I learned about all the others." She proceeded to flex her hand as she straightened her glove. "It is not pleasing when you fully learn just how much a young child is being abused, and I am ashamed that I have not caught on to it sooner. I feel that a certain punishment for this deed is in order, don't you, Mezara, Serenity-chan?" The woman asked as her expression became cheerful and happy when looking at the young orange-haired girl and blonde._

_Both children's faces seemed to gain an evil smile and glint in the eye. "Bad behavior does need to be punished." The both said at once, much to the fear of Kojiro -- and the scientists and mages involved. "Give them your famous 'Slap of Doom', Queen Serenity!" Mezara shouted with a fist in the air. Princess Serenity gave a vigorous nod in agreement._

"_N-- now you're majesty, there's no need to-- RUN!!" The man shouted to his associates as everyone started to scramble, and, in the process, knock over the recorder that was recording the video. This caused the screen to turn into static and end with the last noises being screams of terror and pain._

After the holographic screen blipped off -- signaling the end of the video, -- everyone could only stare in shock at what had just occurred on the video footage in front of them. The only sound that was heard was Ranma slapping her forehead with her hand. "Well, now I know where that came from." She groaned out. "At least I don't have to worry about it anymore."

This confused the people in the living room, and Ayeka beat them all to the question. "Ranma-chan, what do you mean by that?"

"Err… I didn't mean anything at all by it, Ayeka." The cat-girl nervously laughed out, although nobody -- except maybe Mihoshi -- bought the act. Closing her laptop, Ranma was about to leave when she found herself enveloped in a flash of light that caused everyone to look away. As soon as the light died down, they all turned their attention back to the redhead. They all stared at the sight of Ranma wearing the same outfit that the girl in the video clip was wearing. The only differences were the pompom earrings dangling from her cat-ears, the purple with pink frill bow that took the place of her bell, and the end of her hair tied in a bow. "What the hell? I thought I destroyed the transformation pen! You saw me destroy it, didn't you, Laira?" The 11-year-old asked with a slight twitch in her eye. In response, her daughter gave a small nod.

Washu stepped up to the younger redhead and examined her. "Hmm… this is very interesting. You stated that you destroyed the pen that was required for the transformation?" At her student's nod, the genius pulled out a small round and yellow device that she used to scan people. Placing it atop of Ranma's head, she turned it on. The eyes of the device lit up in rhythm as the scanner checked out her insides. After what seemed like an eternity, the scanner gave a 'ping' that signaled it was done. Nodding, Washu checked out the results. "Let's see here. The way I place it is that the pen was the medium in which the transformation is triggered and creates a bond. This bond creates a bit of encoding within a person's system that allows them to transform. Even if the medium for the bond is destroyed, the bond and change is still located within the body and the source of the power. Considering that the pen was the medium, destroying it caused everything to go out of sync, and so controlling it is impossible unless you practice. Form change at inopportune moments and uncontrollability is the reason for this random occurrence."

Nobody in the in the room could make a sound. They were completely lost after the first part of Washu's explanation. The only one who wasn't lost within it slammed a fist into her hand. "So what you are saying is that I created the bond when I first transformed, but destroying the pen didn't destroy the transformation process and fuku. In fact, it caused the transition to mess up and become uncontrollable until such a time when -- and if -- I can control it. Until that time, I'll transform at random moments because the object that helped in controlling it was destroyed?" Ranma finished as she snapped her fingers. She -- herself -- earned several stares at the fact that she understood what was said.

Unable to control herself, Washu launched herself at the cat-girl and hugged her. "Oh, you're so cute when you use that intellect of yours!" She came to her senses after a moment and blushed. Stepping back, she coughed into her fist. "Moving on," she said to make everyone forget that scene, "I believe you hit the nail on the head, Ranma-chan. Until you get control of the transformation itself, you will most likely change at random. I don't think turning into that outfit in public would allow you to keep your dignity." At the bicolor-eyed girl's nod, the genius continued. "How exactly did you destroy the pen anyway?"

Ranma proceeded to play with her tail a little. "Well, after I got out of the outfit, I blasted the thing with several fireballs until it was nothing but dust. I then proceeded to blast the dust a few times. Lastly, I took a large rock and slammed it against the dust on the ground for good measure." Sweat-drops met what she said, and it caused her to play with her tail a little more. "Well, this outfit freaked me out. What do you expect?! It's… pink… and glittery."

To her annoyance, Ryoko actually fell out of the rafters while laughing her ass off. "C-- C'mon Little Miss Pompom! Hit me with your best glitter attack. HAHAHAHAHA!!!" The Masu noticed the death glare she was receiving from the younger and proceeded to clam up. "Hey, I couldn't help it that I thought all of this was funny. I've never seen an outfit like that before, and for it to be on _**YOU**_?!"

"Feh, whatever you say." Ranma let out as she canceled the fuku and returned to the outfit she was wearing before the transformation. Then -- with a quick movement -- she punched Ryoko across the room. "Well, I feel better now." She said with a smile that caused everyone to sweat-drop again. "I think I'll go get something to eat. I haven't had anything in three days, and so I'm starved." The cat-girl stated as she walked towards the kitchen.

"Ranma-chan, wait, don't eat everything in there!" Sasami yelled out as she charged towards the kitchen after the cat-girl. She knew that happened when Ranma went for a couple or so days without eating. "I'll help you get something!"

"Well, at least it's back to semi-normalcy around here." Tennyo blurted out with a smile. Everyone else looked at each other for a few moments before nodding in agreement. Really, when someone who's technically been 'part of the family' for about nine years is gone for a few months, it feels a little strange.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After a few more days of rest, Ranma was finally feeling back at 100 percent. Although bye the time she was at full health, it was time to head back to catch the train to return to Hogwarts. She thought about just skipping the train and transporting herself back to the castle, but decided that she wanted to meet up with Hermione and Nashigi and have them see the new form Laira could use. In fact, the cat-girl wondered what the reactions of everyone else would be. The thought of it all caused her to almost laugh. Also, she was trying to decide if she should reveal the thing she found out about Flamel on that card. She would either show Hermione on the train, or she would wait until they were at Hogwarts where Ron and Harry could also find out. Maybe she'd even tell Hermione that she learned of it on the train ride _**FROM**_ Hogwarts.

"You know, I'd really like to meet Hermione again sometime." Washu stated with a gleam in her eye. "Intelligence like hers is a shame to waste."

"You do realize that if she learned about your lab and everything else, her brain would probably shut down due to excitement over it all, don't you?" Ranma asked with a smirk. "Of course, that means I'd have to explain most of this stuff to her, and then she'd probably get angry that I kept something like this away from her. We can't have her being all huffy at me again." Her thoughts turned to the mini-computer that she had. "Then again, she'd probably learn about it sooner or later."

Washu waved it off. "Perhaps you should wait until her mind is a little more mature to handle something like this. A couple more years would probably be a good time to introduce her to this insanity. Although since Gosaria and Nashigi are aware of it, then maybe it would be amusing to have them visit."

Ranma gave a small shake to her head. "Anyway, I'll see you later, Washu. Remember, I'll be spending my first month of Summer Break with Narcissa." She didn't want the diminutive genius to forget about that and attempt to force un-needed workloads on her that would prevent everything from happening. The cat-girl soon found herself in a gentle hug from the older redhead.

"It's going to be a little boring around here without your brand of chaos mixing in with the chaos of around here." The greatest scientific genius in the universe stated as she let go and ruffled the younger redhead's hair. She ignored the annoyance in Ranma's eyes at that and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "By the way, Ranma-chan. I have all sorts of torture and experiments planned for Razzlof." The 20,000-year-old stated with a sinister grin.

The grin was matched by her student. "Make the worthless piece of trash wish he was never born, Washu-chan. Reduce him to molecules, restore him, re-arrange his body, dress him up in a bunny costume, do whatever you can to make him completely miserable. I want to get back at that guy someday." Maybe wanting revenge against someone was odd, but the guy had kidnapped and hurt Sakura. That was something she couldn't forgive. "Well, see you later, Washu-chan. Come on, Laira!"

"You got it, Momma!" The cabbit shouted as she jumped into the air and transformed into her space-ship form. Ranma gave a wave and managed to get aboard Laira before Mihoshi ran up and hugged her to death.

As the cabbit ship sped off, Washu could only shake her head. 'How did I ever get attached to that child?' She asked herself as she walked back towards the house. She knew for a fact that something would just seem like it would be missing for the next few months. 'Damn it, Ranma. I should slap you upside the head for that.' With a final look towards the direction Laira flew towards, the genius shook her head again and walked back into the Masaki house.

_**Xx Omake (Because someone thought it would be amusing) xX**_

It was a clear and nice winter day in the district of Juuban. The sun was shining, people were walking about doing their business, the weather wasn't too cold, and some odd six-foot-tall feminine monster with green skin and a monocle was trashing the downtown area for some odd reason. Of course, since a monster wasn't a person saw everyday, it was understandable why people were freaking out. "This really gets the ol' blood flowing!" The feminine monster laughed out loud cruelly.

"As much fun as scaring people is, I think you'll have to stop." All heads turned to a figure who was sitting on the edge of a roof. Said figure appeared to be an 11-year-old redheaded cat-girl in an odd kind of fuku outfit composed of purples, pinks, ribbons, bows, frills, and glitter-- lots and lots of glitter. Behind her, they could actually see her tail swishing back and forth. This cat-girl also seemed to not be happy. 'Jeez, why the hell do I have to do this while currently in this outfit? Damn it, Washu.'

Tossing it out of her mind, the girl jumped off the building -- producing a trail of glitter -- and gave a small point. "It's because of you that I have to come here dressed like this, and because of that, you will pay. I'm… Sailor Pompom, and in the name of pissed off cat-girls trapped in embarrassing outfits while being in public," she clenched a fist, "I'm going to pound your ass into the ground." Of course, there was a different kind of phrase that popped into her head, but she didn't want to say it.

A sweat-drop formed on everyone -- including the monster -- who were watching the newcomer. "You realize that it looks like you fell into a pool of glitter, don't you?" The monster asked while trying to keep a straight face. The sight before her was just too amusing to look at. "And I thought today couldn't get any more amusing. I have a wannabe devil hunter trying to kick it to me. Well, so me your magical attacks!"

Ranma's eye began to twitch. 'Those attacks from the video can't still be useless, can they? I mean, they probably had time to fix them up so that they did things.' Feeling confident in that the attacks _**DO**_ something, Sailor Pompom smiled. "Alright then, here I go! Rainbow Beam-- that's still a creepy name." A beam of multi-colored light shoots out of her hand and hits the monster woman. The attack doesn't do anything except make the creature close her eyes for a moment and step aside.

"You know, that was kind of useless." Her opponent stated with a small chuckle. "I mean, a rainbow beam? What kind of crackpot gave you a power like that?"

Ranma gave off a small growl. "Teddy Bear Stuffing Blast!" A storm of white and fluffy stuffing shot out of her hand and at the enemy. Said enemy merely incinerated the attack without any effort. "Uh… Glitter Storm, Pompom Barrage, Flower Power-- what the hell?" None of the attacks mentioned succeeded in doing anything to her opponent. The only thing that happened was that the monster -- as well as several people who were still around -- started laughing their assess off at the lame attacks. "Hey, shut-up!" Ranma shouted with a small blush on her face. Why did she have to see if the attacks worked?

The feminine monster finally managed to control her laughing. "You have got to be the worst devil hunter that I have ever seen. You seem so useless, and you're so short and flat-chested. Don't even get me started on how looking at you makes me want to cringe in fear." Of course, this caused a lot more laughing around the area. The only one who wasn't laughing was a certain redheaded cat-girl whose eyes suddenly turned crimson.

With her hands clenching, Ranma walked over to a parked SUV and picked it up by the back bumper. This sight caused most of the people to stop their laughing. With a trail of glitter, the redhead walked over to the still laughing monster. When the monster looked up, it was too late. "DIE!!!" Ranma shouted as she repeatedly smashed the monster under the SUV. The citizens of Juuban winced at the brutality of it all. They then had to whistle innocently and go back to what they were previously doing when the fuku-clad cat-girl sent a glare their way.

Looking back at the unconscious creature, Ranma was wondering what she would do with her. Destroying her wouldn't be all that fun, and she wanted to make her suffer for-- oh wait! 'Heh-heh-heh, it looks like Washu's going to get another guinea pig. She's always told me that she wished she could study more demonic entities.' Grabbing the monster woman by the leg, the redhead whistled happily as she dragged the woman along the ground. She even made sure to drag her over some broken glass.

_**Xx End Omake xX**_

xxA.Nxx

For those who haven't seen the OVA 3 of the Tenchi Muyo Ryo-Ohki series, Tennyo Masaki is Tenchi's older sister -- who he didn't even know he had. She's 80-years-old with silver hair and is the spitting image of Tenchi's mother, Kiyone Masaki.

Airi Masaki is Yosho/Katsuhito's wife. This means she is Tenchi's grandmother, although she despises being called that

Noike was introduced as Tenchi's official 'fiancée' picked by Seto Kamiki Jurai aka The Devil Princess of Jurai aka Sasami and Ayeka's grandmother.

I was thinking about having Ranma learn how to add magic -- fire, ice, lightning -- to his martial arts styles. I actually think that would be interesting.

I'm trying to come up with a name for Ranma's mini-computer. Just calling it 'mini-computer' or 'laptop' sounds boring. I am trying to figure out a name for a mini-computer that's blue and in the shape of a yarn-ball.


	16. A Stone's Throw Away

Wild Magic

Ranma 1/2, Slayers, and any other series used in this fanfic are owned by their respective creators/publishers/whatever

Thanks to CyberSkaarj and the people of Fukufics for pre-reading

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Chapter 16

Ranma glanced out the window of the train compartment she was currently occupying. It would still be a few more moments before the train started to get a move on. On her head, Laira gave a small yawn as she twitched her nose. Looking away from the window, she glanced down at the mini-computer that was sitting on her lap. After a long while, she had finally given the thing its own name. "Stringy 2.0 is a weird name, momma." The small cabbit on her head mumbled out.

"Well, it's better than calling it 'mini-computer' or 'laptop', right? I mean, giving it a name gives it more of a personal touch." This was exactly the reason she hardly ever used the damn thing. She knew that if she did start using it, she'd get attached to the stupid thing. "I just _**HAD**_ to go and copy all of that data from the Eternity Main Systems onto this thing, didn't I?" The cat-girl grumbled out. "Well, at least Washu made it so that it won't be affected by magical interference. This also means I can get and send messages at any time without having to worry about owls." Feeling a little better after the last sentence, Ranma began to snoop through some of the new info she had gained from the Moon computer. She decided to start near the first part of the formation of the Solar System kingdom.

What she found out was slightly intriguing. The first people to arrive in the Solar System to create what would be known as the Moon Kingdom were outcasts from other inter-planetary kingdoms. They didn't agree with the ways of the planets they used to live on and decided to flee from the area, and they soon found themselves in a mostly primitive backwater area where they got to work turning the planets into places that could nurture life. 'Hmm… it looks like there was also a large disagreement about how things should be run. The people who disagreed were forced to live on the planet that already supported life-- Earth.'

The one thing that piqued her interest about the archaic knowledge about that time was that, instead of Sailor Senshi that weren't around in the Solar System during that time, there were people who combined the use of Martial Arts and Magic. They actually focused strong magic of different elements into their bodies. Things such as punches and kicks coursing with such magic as ice, fire, electricity, and other elements to fight 'what needed to be fought for'. Sadly, that fighting style seemed to have died out about 500 years later when the planets finally lent their magic to certain girls who became their 'avatars' and the formation of something called the _Maboroshi no Ginzuishou. _'Dang, that Ginzuishou thingie seems like an incredible object.' There was a small part of her that wished she could have something like that, but she managed to shake it off. 'It's a shame that nobody used that fighting style after that. I wonder if I could replicate it.' It would have to be something that she'd try later.

Her head turned when the door to her compartment opened up to reveal Hermione and Nashigi. Apparently the two had met up with each other as they got onto the express. Upon seeing the redhead with cat-ears, Hermione waved. "Lina, did you enjoy your vacation?" She asked in slight interest. Before Ranma could answer, the bushy-haired girl spotted the computer on her friends lap. "Oh, what's that?"

"It's my mini-computer. I call it Stringy 2.0." She received a couple stares as soon as she said the name. "What, I think it's a fine name for a mini-computer that happens to be shaped like a yarn-ball. I've actually had this thing for a few years, but I never bothered to use it for anything except play games and browse the internet." The cat-girl finished as she moved her tail a little.

"I thought that electronics don't work at Hogwarts." Nashigi provided with a blink. Her confusion soon turned into a smirk. "Ah, now I get it. You've gotten forgetful over the small break that we had. It's too bad that your mind lowered. I, on the other hand, haven't forgotten a thing!" The raven-haired girl was about to laugh when an energy sword found its way in front of her face.

"I'm not in the mood for your laugh right now, Nashigi." Ranma simply stated before looking back at Hermione with a smirk. "Anyway, Washu was able to tweak Stringy so that magical interference won't be a problem at all. With this, I'll be able to do something when I'm bored, won't have to rely on owls, and other such things." A bicolored eye looked towards her Gryffindor friend. "You know, maybe I can get Washu to create one for you. I'm sure you could keep track of your scheduling plans and other things that interest you."

The brown-haired girl gave a small blink at that. Her very own mini-computer that could work at Hogwarts and help her with schedules and several other things of interest? "Really?" She asked as a feeling of excitement started to build.

Ranma gave a nod. "Yeah, perhaps I can get you to come over and visit Washu and the people I've spent most of my life with." Inside, the cat-girl was smirking. If she was able to learn the secret, it would probably blow the girl's mind. "Perhaps I could even get Nashigi and Gosaria to visit. However, I'm not exactly sure when I'll have the time to get you to come over." Ranma added as they all noticed the train start to move.

"Why's that?" Nashigi asked curiously.

"I promised my mum that we could spend the entire first month of my vacation together." The redhead still felt a small pang of guilt whenever she thought about how Narcissa was sad about not spending that much time together. "The most I've ever spent with my family was 10 days before I left to go back with Washu. When I realized how sad it made my mum, I felt bad about it. I then promised her that we could spend the entire month together, and we could do whatever she wanted to do." A small grimace appeared on her face. "Somehow, I think I'll end up regretting that last part." Ranma sent a glare towards the laughing Nashigi. "Oh shut up." She stated with a frown. "I've also planned on taking a small trip somewhere after I get done spending time with mum." She wouldn't tell either of them, but Washu had decided that the second month would be a good time to visit that planet Mau.

"Who knows, maybe you'll have an incredible amount of fun with your mother." Hermione stated with a smile as she put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Oh, Lina, there's something that I want to ask you." When the blue/red eyes of her friend centered on her, she began again. "Did you find anything at all over your break about Nicholas Flamel? I wasn't able to check too much because I had no resources."

A smirk appeared on Ranma's face. "I did find out a minor bit of information, but," this prevented Hermione from jumping up in excitement, "we will wait until we get to Hogwarts and meet up with Ron and Harry. When we get there, gather both of them up and meet me in the library. It may not be much information, but it is a clue that could lead into the right direction."

Hermione gave off a small pout at the fact that her friend was taunting her. Nashigi, on the other hand, just gave off a small yawn. The other sorceress had already lost interest in the whole thing about this Flamel guy. "Aw come on, Lina. Can't you please tell me?" The bushy-haired bookworm asked. She hated it when information was out of her reach. She blinked when Ranma made a hand motion for her to come forward a bit.

"Do you really want to know?" At her friend's vigorous nod, the cat-girl cleared her throat. She even noticed Nashigi leaning closer as well. With a smile, she began to whisper to them in a soft voice. "It's..." she drawled it out some more, "a secret." She finished with a quick wink and a wag of a finger. The end result to this was two girls on the ground in shock. "You know what, that really is fun. No wonder Xellos does things like that." She soon found herself on the receiving end of a small slap to the shoulder from Hermione. "Well, I said that you'd have to wait until later." Ranma stated to her cross-armed friend. "Aw come on, there's not need to pout, Hermione." Giving a small shrug, the cat-girl smiled. "Hey, do you two want to see what Laira can now do?"

The two other occupants of the room looked on in curiosity as the small creature sitting between the redhead's ears gave a small 'myah' as she leapt off. Both had eyes as wide as saucers when they saw Laira transform into a humanoid form of around four years or so. Her crimson fur became lighter in color and her purple hair fell into a braid that reached her legs. Another change was that her long and floppy ears changed into elf-like ears. She was also wearing a small purple Chinese dress as well. After transforming, Laira grabbed a hand from both Hermione and Nashigi and pulled them to their feet. "Aren't hands fantastic?!" She asked with a giggle before she let go and jumped next to Ranma.

"Wha… but how did…" Both of the cat-girl's friends were stunned at the sight of a small rabbit-like creature turning into a four-year-old humanoid.

"I ate a powerful magic sword!" Laira announced cheerfully. "I also ate many other magical things. Oh, we need to travel to the Moon again, Momma!" The cabbit announced as she jumped and floated in front of the one she considered her mom. "Grandma Washu stated that if I build up enough energy and magic, I'll be able to use what I built up!"

Hermione and Nashigi looked at each other and blinked. The former was totally lost, while the latter was only mildly confused due to already knowing most of the stuff about the redhead. 'Lina really needs to let Hermione know the rest about her.' The reincarnation of Naga thought to herself.

As if sensing the confusion, Ranma gave off a nervous laugh. "Don't worry, Hermione. Laira has such a big imagination." She then directed her thoughts to her daughter. 'Do not mention anything about space travel to Hermione at the moment. She doesn't know anything about me outside of what she and everyone else around here knows.'

'Then maybe you should tell her sometime, momma.' The currently humanoid cabbit thought back as she toyed around with the redhead's wand. She giggled whenever she made sparks come out. "This is fun."

"Hey, how'd you get that? Also, how are you able to-- of course, Washu created her by using some of my DNA structure." The last part was said softly enough so that only Laira could hear. "That still doesn't tell me how you were able to get into my own ki-folded space!"

An innocent look appeared on the creature's face. "I'm sorry momma, but that's a secret." Ranma gave herself a slap upside the head as the other two in the compartment smiled at something that was turned around on their friend.

"Whatever, just go ahead and play with it. I don't need it for right now, and maybe you could learn how to do a little of your own magic. I need to go back to figuring out if I can include elemental magic within my martial arts." The redhead went on to mumble about 'pushing magic into the desired place' and 'figuring out how to keep it there'. "I just need to figure out how to grab hold of my mana, push it into an area, and use it instead of my ki."

Hermione became slightly curious at the words 'mana' and 'ki'. In all the books that she had read, mana had only been mentioned twice, and there wasn't enough information on it other than 'mana flow within the body' that Prof. Binns talked about during one of their classes. Ki, on the other hand, was completely foreign to her. "Lina, what exactly are mana and ki? I've only vaguely heard of mana before, and I've never heard of ki." She received a momentary blank stare before the redhead gave a cat-like grin.

"Ah ha! There _**IS**_ something that the great and intelligent Hermione Granger _**DOESN'T**_ know." Ranma merely shrugged the glare off. "Mana is the energy in which all magic is crafted upon. The more mana that is available to a person, the greater magic they can do, and they can even get to a point where they don't need to rely on a pathetic wand to mediate it. If I remember correctly -- I was half-asleep at the time -- Prof. Binns mentioned something about the mana flow within was greater over a thousand years ago, and the mana ability within humans started decreasing through the years. In my opinion, I believe the cause is because of items, locations, and creatures that were rich in mana began to dwindle down because of fear, and the stupid attempts of keeping magic a secret from non-magical people. I mean, I think that does more harm than good." Ranma then rolled her eyes. "If you ask me, I think trying to keep it all hidden from non-magical people is hurting the magical world the most."

Not waiting for the other two occupants of the compartment -- Laira was busy making sparks with Ranma's wand -- to say anything, the bicolor-eyed cat-girl began again. "As for the other thing you asked about. Ki -- also known as chi in some places -- is the life force -- also known as spiritual energy -- that every living being needs to survive. I won't get into complete detail, but ki is an element that can be used in a multitude of things. One of these things includes martial arts. With enough training and practice, one could even achieve the ability to turn their spiritual energy into a visible aura." She brought forth a small outline of her own aura. "There is also the possibility of bringing it out and using it as a weapon." Holding out her left hand, a small ball of white energy came into creation above it. In her right hand, a sphere that contained a pinkish tint to it appeared and hovered. "In my left hand is a sphere of my ki, and in my right hand is a sphere of my own mana. Of course, you -- as well as most of Hogwarts and the surrounding forest -- have seen me use such things before when I lost my temper -- or was under the influence of that cat-nip curse. Nashigi and Gosaria already know all too well about the mana aspect, even though Gosaria can only do simple spells with it."

Hermione nodded for a few moments as she began to store that data in her mind. "I see, so you, Nashigi, and Gosaria must have a higher mana capacity than most wizards and witches, but I'm guessing that you still need to practice so that you don't accidentally destroy things." Ranma gave a small nod and a smile. If Washu ever got hold of this girl-- no, better not think about it. "And if you are unable to perform magic for some unknown reason, you still have your martial arts and ki to fall back on, as well as a couple other things I've noticed."

"Yep, you got it, Hermione. It's so nice to know that there is someone at Hogwarts I can talk to -- besides Laira many times -- who understands things right off the bat without needing a second explanation."

"Hey, what about Gosaria and me?" Nashigi asked with a frown as she pointed to herself.

Ranma gave her an 'are you kidding me' look. "Get rid of the whole 'rival' obsession and I'll think about it. Also, Gosaria may be smart, but you, me, and her all know that she has incredibly ditzy moments."

Nashigi gave off a fake pout. "You're so mean, Lina." The discussion was brought to a close when Laira waved the wand again. This time -- instead of sparks -- a jet of magic flew out and hit the raven-haired sorceress-in-training. The result of this was that Nashigi's raven-black hair had turned into a bunch of hissing snakes. "Lina! Get them off of me!!" She yelled out as Hermione gave off a minor shriek in terror. Laira gave off a small blush of embarrassment, turned back into her full cabbit form, and jumped into Ranma's clothing. The bicolor-eyed cat-girl, on the other hand, started laughing her ass off. "It's not funny!"

"Gorgon without the petrification danger, I love it!"

"Lina, if you don't stop laughing and fix this, I'm going to encase you completely in ice!"

"Alright, jeez, I'm the only one here who finds it amusing." Ranma grumbled as she got to work trying to figure out how to reverse it. It seemed that the rest of the trip would be a long ride.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Nashigi patted down her hair as they made their way back to the castle after getting off the train. It had taken the rest of the train ride for Ranma to finally get her hair back to normal. It also didn't help that some of the snakes decided it would be fun to bite her on the ear or other places, and having someone open up the door to the compartment and faint upon seeing the snakes was not good either. The most annoying thing of all, however, was that Ranma found it completely hilarious and thought they were making it into too big of a deal. Laira kept on apologizing throughout the train ride to her, and Nashigi couldn't bring herself to get angry at the tiny and cute creature. A certain cat-girl on the other hand was fair game.

"Hey, it's not my fault that you were in the way of the spell. Laira was only toying around with the wand, and I wasn't expecting-- hey, stop that!" Ranma shouted as she dodged several ice arrows. Finally annoyed with the barrage, the martial artist/sorceress created a dill brand that knocked the dark-haired sorceress out. Ranma then grabbed her by the leg and began dragging her across the ground towards the castle. She made sure to go over a few small and pointy rocks in the process. Most of the students returning from break decided to play it safe and walk several feet behind the redheaded sorceress. "Hey, Hermione," Ranma began as she glanced towards her friend next to her, "go get Harry and Ron and meet me in the library. I want to inform you all of what I learned before dinner begins. Damn that train ride is long." As soon as Hermione nodded and walked away to find the two boys, Ranma made her way towards the Slytherin dorms -- via teleportation -- to drop off the 'dead weight' she was dragging. "Jeez, those breasts of yours must tribute to half of your own weight."

A certain ear-splitting laugh erupted from the downed dark-haired girl. "Ooohohohohohooo, you're probably just jealous of me, Lina!" Nashigi then got to her feet and dusted herself off. To anyone looking, they'd notice that she seemed non-the-worse for wear.

Ranma waved her hand at the older girl. "Yeah, I'm jealous of someone who probably can't see her own feet and possibly suffers from terrible back and balance problems." The sarcasm was thick and picked up on by everyone present except for a certain candidate for a banshee who suddenly decided to hug the younger magic user.

"Oh don't worry, Lina my eternal rival, I'm sure that someday your body will mature. If it doesn't, then I'm sure you will be perfectly content with being short, flat-chested, mistaken for a young child, fore--" Nashigi didn't get to finish due to the fact that she found herself completely encased in a block of ice.

"Why am I always surrounded by goofballs?" Ranma mumbled to herself as she turned around and started to walk off. Before she made her way out of the common room, she turned her head around and looked towards the people who appeared to be slightly nervous of the frozen Nashigi. "If she isn't thawed out within half-an-hour, please help her out." At the quick nods from her fellow Slytherins, Ranma made her way through the passageway entrance and passed by the Bloody Baron. The martial artist/sorceress's ears picked up the Baron saying something about the 'Grey Lady' and 'Beautiful'. Not really caring about the solemn ghost's mumblings, Ranma continued on her way towards the library to wait for Hermione to bring Harry and Ron. Laira had mentioned something about going and getting a few carrots from the house elves in the kitchens.

As she made her way through the halls, her ears could pick up the voices of students whispering about her being back. Quite a few seemed to be afraid of her due to the brand of weirdness that seemed to appear with her, and the things she could do. There were many others -- mostly some of the older students -- who thought that Ranma's presence in the school destroyed some of the usual boredom that the school always seemed to have after one got past some of the more shocking things. It was these students who usually greeted her with a smile instead of a fearful look. 'I need to find Fred and George after this. A prank would be just the thing to get this place lively again.' The catty smile that appeared on her face sent shivers down a few of the students' spines.

Nearing the library, Ranma noticed that Mrs. Norris was prowling around the area. /Searching for trouble-makers, old lady?/ The cat-girl asked as she switched into feline language. The residents of the school had taken to calling the whole thing 'felislingua'. She had to ask what it meant, and found out that it consisted of the Latin words for cat -- felis -- and tongue -- lingua. At least they didn't go around and call it ailurtongue.

The cat glanced towards the martial artist/sorceress with what looked like a smirk. /I think we both know of at least one troublemaker around here at the moment./ Ranma then grumbled about 'lippy cats' and 'no respect'. This caused the nosy cat to give a chirrup in amusement. /By the way, I should tell you to be a little more careful with Prof. Quirrel. A few of the cats -- as well as I -- here at Hogwarts have sensed something very strange on the back of his head, and it seems to be getting stronger as well. The owls may have noticed something as well, but they're just featherbrained coots./

Ranma's ears gave a small twitch towards the sound of students whispering about her talking to the cat that makes lives difficult. /Thanks for the tips, old lady. You know, maybe we should get all the cats in Hogwarts together sometime and create a feline spy-ring. I'm sure that by doing that, we could root out foul play, and we could even have nice little meetings./ The bicolor-eyed 11-year-old finished with a chuckle. Mrs. Norris rolled her eyes before walking off to go on her rounds. The cat went on to mumble something about 'needing a small nap'. "Well, I thought having all the cats get together for a nice convention inside the castle would be fun." That comment earned a few sweat-drops from passing students.

Upon entering the library, Ranma made her way towards one of the tables. Her eyes drifted over to the restricted section that was guarded by a rope. It was a part of the library that she found herself wishing several times to gain access to, but of course Dumbledore thought that it would be too dangerous. The librarian, Ranma thought it was Pince, had a habit of watching her closely more than she did other students, and Ranma attributed that to the fact that the redhead always stared towards the restricted section. Giving a small sigh, Ranma grabbed a book that contained a large glossary of magic and spells throughout the ages to read while waiting for Hermione. 'Hmm… the polymorph spell sounds fun.' After a few minutes of reading, Hermione finally entered the library with Ron and Harry following behind. The trio walked over to the table Ranma was at and sat down. Looking up from the book -- but keeping her place -- the cat-girl smiled as she began with a whisper. "Good to see you two again. So, how was your holiday break, and did you find anything of interest on Flamel?" Hermione was also curious about what happened with the two.

The two boys softly began to tell them about how they hadn't found anything, and Harry went on to mention about the invisibility cloak that he had gotten for Christmas. The mention of a cloak that could make you invisible caused Ranma's head to perk up completely. Sure she had the umisenken, but that needed concentration to use properly, and this cloak could just be tossed over you and make you invisible. She also became amused when Harry mentioned about how he used the cloak to try and get a book from the restricted section. Hermione was shocked at the thought of him being out at night, but Ranma merely gave him a thumb up. When the subject of the Mirror of Erised came up, the redheaded cat-girl caused them all to look at her strange when she told them of her own experience with it.

"Lina, you mentioned something about you having some information on Nicholas Flamel?" Hermione asked in interest. The three others at the table could tell she was getting slightly antsy.

"Yeah I did. It's not much information, but it could probably be a lead." Pulling out Dumbledore's card, Ranma looked at the back. "I found out on the train ride home for break and decided to wait to show you three all at once." Hermione gave off a large pout at her friend refusing to inform her upon the info when she first got it. "--and his work in alchemy with his partner, Nicholas Flamel." As soon as that sentence left Ranma's mouth, Hermione gained 'the look' in her eyes. It was the kind of look that revealed that she had figured something out. The two Gryffindor boys and the Slytherin cat-girl watched in curiosity as their friend quickly made her way out of the library. "You know, I think I just might have sparked something in her mind." Ranma obviously stated. "Oh well, back to reading this article about polymorphs before she comes back."

"Why do you want to read about something like that?" Ron asked.

"Well, if I ever want to turn somebody into a pig, frog, cow, ferret, etc, then it would to good to understand the aspects of how to go about doing it. This book doesn't mention much about how to cast the spell, but I figure experimenting will be a little fun." Bicolored eyes noticed the looks she was receiving from her two companions. "What, I like to broaden my skills. You never know when you will come across a terrible monster or dark wizard and _**NOT **_be in good condition to fight. Turn whatever it is into a pig, and you'd be able to get away, and have a nice pork roast in the process." She was mostly kidding about the 'pork roast' part. "The school of martial arts that I practice is Anything Goes Martial Arts, and as the title says, anything goes as long as you can defeat your opponent."

Harry adjusted his glasses as he thought about the cat-girl floating in mid-air while firing off magical spells that turned panicking dark wizards and monsters into small animals while laughing her tail off. "Just… don't ever use it on us, ok Lina?"

"You're bloomin' crazy, you know that?" Ron asked rather bluntly. Ranma was about to comment back when Hermione made her way back into the library and to their table. In her hands was an old book Ranma had to raise an eyebrow when Hermione mentioned that she checked the book out for a little light reading. Then again, the cat-girl had to do 'light reading' before with bigger books than that.

"I _**knew**_ it," Hermione whispered with force, "Nicholas Flamel is the _**only known creator of the philosopher's stone**_." At that sentence, Ranma's eyes narrowed completely as Hermione continued to read about the stone itself.

Closing the book she was reading, Ranma grew contemplative over what she had just learned. 'Prolong life and turn metal into gold? That's weak; the one in Lina's time actually had power to it.' Still, it seemed powerful enough to cause some real damage if in the wrong hands. At Ron's comment about it being powerful, the cat-girl had to give off a small snort. 'This is obviously a case of some wannabe creating a half-assed copy of the stone. Still, creating something that could prolong your life does take some skill.' "I guess this means that we just need to keep Quirrel from obtaining it." Ranma decided to make a mental note on trying to get the cats of Hogwarts to possibly help. They could move around without suspicion.

"Lina, Snape is obviously the one who's after the stone. He did get bit by the dog on Halloween, and Quirrel did warn everyone about the troll." Harry pointed out to the cat-girl as if it were obvious.

Ron decided to interrupt. "Just because you're in Slytherin, and that the head of it is Snape, it doesn't mean that--"

"--I'm not blinded by the fact that Snape can be a bastard and that there are some gut feelings that I have against Quirrel?" Ranma interrupted with the ears on top of her head flattened out and her crimson eyes narrowed. "I guess that being in Slytherin automatically labels me as a defender of the greasy-haired dungeon-dweller with a stick up his ass."

The Weasley boy felt a little guilty. "Well, I didn't mean--"

Ranma raised a hand. "Think nothing of it, Freckles. I have moments of speaking what's on my mind as well, and I have a past of putting my foot in my mouth, so I understand that you couldn't help yourself from blabbering about what was on your mind." Ron was about to protest when the redheaded cat-girl reached over and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know how it is to be thought of as an insensitive jerk, and my prayers go out to you that you'll be able to beat your chronic foot-in-mouth issue." Standing up with the book in her hands that she decided to check out, Ranma gave a small wave. "See you later Harry, Hermione, Freckles." As she walked away, she noticed -- out of the corner of her eye -- that Ron was slightly fuming over the nickname. 'Hmm… I almost gave into my temper back there, but I managed to hold it in. In your face, Lina Inverse.'

After checking out her book, Ranma made her way out of the library and caught sight of Fred, George, and their friend Lee Jordan. "Hey guys." Ranma called out with a smirk. She soon found herself with a couple of arms on her shoulders.

"Hey Red Cat, it's good to have you back at Hogwarts." Fred started with a smirk.

"Yeah, this place has been boring without you. There haven't been any screams of terror, any crazy energy from you, no wild and unruly magical events, and our pranks have been a little stale." George added with mock tears in his eyes.

"Your pranks were as good as they always were, guys." Lee Jordan stated with a smirk. He ignored the mock glares he received from the two.

Ranma smiled a catty grin when an idea came to mind. "Say guys, how would you like to play a little prank on your younger brother? There's no true reason at all, other than he put his foot in his mouth and lopped me with all the other Slytherins."

"What?" George asked being dramatic.

"Our dear little brother compared you to all the other evil, detestable, and whiny Slytherins?" Fred provided. "I think we can all agree that you are a diamond in the rough when it comes to the Slytherin house, but to play a prank on our own little brother." The twins looked at each other before George responded.

"What do you have in mind, Red Cat? He may be our younger brother, but as his older brothers, we need to set him right."

Ranma's catty grin became bigger. "Well, let's see here…" She began to explain softly to the three around her. After-all, the old phrase did go 'don't get mad, get even'.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma was hard-pressed to keep from laughing the next day when she caught up with the Weasley Twins before they arrived at breakfast the next morning. She wanted to ask them how the prank that they concocted against Ron turned out. Ranma was amused at how well it had worked out as planned. "…and when he opened his trunk," Fred began in a whisper, "that multi-colored ink bomb you helped us with blew up and covered him from head to toe in multiple colors."

"And then that experimental spell you told us about, I think it was called polymorph or something, acted next and turned his ears into floppy little rabbit ears." George finished with a grin as he kept his voice at a whisper as well. "Of course, he blamed all three of us for the marvelous bit of color that we added to his existence. He then got into a huff and, last we heard, made his way to the infirmary to turn his ears back to normal."

Ranma felt slightly guilty in a way at doing something like that, but the fact remained that the school would be so boring without interference, and so it was the job of the twins and her to provide a little excitement. "I really do need to learn more about that spell. I was going for him turning into a multi-colored rabbit for a few moments, but only managed the ears." She mumbled to herself. Ranma then shrugged and figured that the next time she used the spell, it'd be correct. The cat-girl noticed that Ron -- now normal -- was sending a few dark looks towards them. Ranma merely twitched her nose -- in the way a rabbit would -- and gave him a thumb up and a smile. The redheaded boy's ears turned pink as he stalked into the Great Hall.

Breakfast proved to be the usual three-way battle between Ranma, Nashigi, and Gosaria even though there was enough for each of them there. Because of the two-week absence of this particular event, everyone had to get use to witnessing the food battle again. Some even wondered why the teachers never put a stop to it, and others figured that if the teachers did that, they'd risk losing a limb in the process. The biggest mystery yet was the subject of how three young girls could stuff so much food into their stomachs and not feel the slightest bit sick. Many had also found themselves wondering just where it all went.

Ranma soon found herself back in the old grind of her class schedule with her Defense Against the Dark Arts class. The first thing she noticed upon entering was that Mrs. Norris was right in mentioning how the sinister feeling around Quirrel seemed to be stronger than ever. She could now get a feeling of two ki signatures within the same body, and there was a distinct smell of something lingering off of him. She remembered smelling it on him before, but it was weak, and she couldn't identify it. After taking a small adventure into the forbidden forest last month before break, the smell finally sparked recognition. It smelled vaguely of… unicorn blood? Outright mentioning it to the turban-wearing professor would probably mean disaster, so she had to be discreet about it. However, discreet was not one of her specialties, but she could always try. A twinkle appeared in her eyes as she turned towards Gosaria. There was something she read a while back -- and remembered from Lina's memories -- about unicorns. "Hey Gosaria, have you heard that drinking the _**BLOOD**_ of a _**UNICORN**_ can keep you from dying, even if you are seconds away from it?" She put emphasis on blood and unicorn.

"I don't think I ever heard that before. That sounds so fantastic!" Gosaria announced with wide eyes. Ranma noticed that Quirrell's attention was centered upon her. The man seemed to have his lips pursed together.

"Yeah, but I've also read that for _**SLAYING**_ a creature of such innocence just for your own _**GAIN**_, then you will be cursed to live a half life." If possible, Gosaria's eyes grew wider, and the turban-wearing professor seemed to be sweating a little as the second energy signature grew a little stronger. "But, one would have to be very _**DESPERATE**_ to do something like that. I couldn't imagine anybody doing something like that, could you, Prof. Quirrel?" Ranma asked with eyes completely full of innocence and devoid of any look of malice or accusation. She could now smell the sweat coming off of the man.

"N-- n-- no I c-- can not imagine someone do-- doing such a deed to a p-- poor creature such as a u-- unicorn. W-- what brought this s-- subject up all of a s-- su-- sudden?" Quirrell nervously asks. 'Does she somehow suspect something about us?' He thought in his mind.

Ranma gave off a small shrug. "It was something I read over the break and decided to share it with Gosaria." She suddenly gave off a large yawn that showed off her fang-like canines. "A small nap sounds good right about now." The cat-girl mumbled to herself as she laid her head down on her arms.

"M-- Miss Lina, h-- how many times do I have to tell you to n-- not sleep in this class? It is v-- very important to your education." Prof. Quirrell's nervousness regarding Ranma was mostly thrown out when the idea of a student sleeping in his class, again, got to him.

One of Ranma's eyes cracked open a little. "What's on the lesson plan?"

"I f-- figure that v-- vampires would be a suitable--"

"I already know enough about them, so if you will excuse me, I need to get a little shut-eye." Ignoring the indignant professor and the looks she was receiving, Ranma decided to give in to her cat side and take a nap during the class. She already knew stuff about vampires, and so it would be a waste of her time.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma still thought that History of magic was a slight oddball class. It wasn't because of the ghost professor, or that Prof. Binns didn't give a care about what his students did in his class as long as he could drone on. No, the oddest thing was that she could never sleep during the class. While almost everybody in the school -- except for Hermione and a select few -- found themselves bored to hell, Ranma found that she didn't have that luxury. The redhead mostly figured that it was due to the idea of learning just why magic was like it was today through learning the history of it. The info on ancient wizards and events was mostly interesting in that there was often a mention of some spell that sounded interesting.

Still, it sucked that she couldn't join the world of dreams.

Lunch quickly came and went, and before Ranma knew it, Transfiguration was upon her. She didn't do too bad in the subject, in fact, she found Prof. McGonagall easy to get along with for some reason. The most she could figure was that it was because of the 'cat' that was within the older woman. Still, problems would sometimes abound when the redhead attempted to transfigure something. She would usually get the assignment right, but cause a little damage to something else. Still, getting the assignment right was all that mattered.

The assignment that they were supposed to do would be one of those easy things used to 'get back into the feeling of things'. The class was put to the task of turning a piece of string into a live caterpillar, and full marks would be given to the caterpillar that most resembled one. Ranma figured it would be a complete breeze to do, and as she was handed a string, she reached for her wand. That's when she stopped in realization. Her wand wasn't in her item pocket. The only reason for this would have to be that Laira took it again. "Crap," she said out loud and gained the attention of everyone else, "Laira currently has my wand!"

Prof. McGonagall didn't understand how the little… creature could get hold of the redhead's wand, but decided not to question it. "Well then, I guess you won't be able to do this assignment then."

Ranma jumped to her feet. "Wait, I can still try and do it without a wand. I've been meaning to practice doing wand magic without one, and this will be some good experience." As soon as she said this, the tables around her started to move away a little. "Oh come on, I'm not _**THAT**_ dangerous."

"Miss Malfoy, I do believe that since you don't have a wand--"

"Alright, let's do it!" This would provide some great practice, and then she'd be one step closer to doing away with her wand all-together. Ignoring her teacher's protests, Ranma gathered some magic into her hands and waved her right hand over the string. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen, and it caused the cat-girl to sulk. However, the string soon started to move, and everybody stared intently. Then, with a puff of smoke, the string transformed into a caterpillar-- a caterpillar the size of a rhinoceros. A few of the girls in the class screamed at how gross such a large thing looked, and McGonagall could only stare with wide eyes.

Ranma -- who got knocked onto her ass -- blinked at her creation before glancing around and seeing the incredulous looks she was receiving. After a few moments, she pointed a finger towards the massive wiggling creature. "Well, it's a caterpillar, a very big one, but a caterpillar none-the-less." She noticed that Gosaria was under part of the tail. 'At least it's not me.' The tail then proceeded to move and knock Ranma against the wall. 'Ow'

Prof. McGonagall gave a small and reluctant nod before waving her wand and turning the caterpillar into a smaller form. "Yes, you certainly did manage to improvise and do what was required. Next time, however, make sure that the thing you make does not attack you or flatten Miss Negia again."

"Well that's obviously a given." Ranma snorted as she helped her friend up from the ground. "Next time I'll have to use less magic." The silence was deafening after that left her mouth.

"N-- next time?" Gosaria asked in slight fear.

"Next time it'll probably be a dragon!" Pansy shouted in disbelief as a few other students. "You realize how dangerous your wandless magic can be?"

A cat-like grin appeared upon the redhead's face as she looked towards Pansy. "Don't worry, I'm sure I'll be able to control the dragon… maybe." The dark-haired Slytherin turned pale at the thought.

"That's enough, Miss Malfoy." McGonagall stated as she cleared her throat. "Now, if everyone is done with turning my class into a monkey-fest, let's get back to the task at hand."

"Hmm… a monkey polymorph sounds amusing."

"What was that, Miss Malfoy?"

"Nothing, teach." Ranma ignored the older woman's annoyance at being called 'teach' and went back to her seat.

After Transfiguration, Ranma had managed to get her wand back from Laira by the time that Charms had started. Laira pouted at not being able to play with the sparks some more, but understood that the cat-girl needed it. Charms was another class that Ranma had found to be easy and merely needed some proper motions to use the spell, and Prof. Flitwick always seemed to have an amusing humor when the redhead made explosive mistakes. Ranma actually managed to get through the class by unusually _**NOT**_ causing a large show.

When Herbology came around, the cat-girl was feeling incredibly bored. Ranma could never find any real interest in messing around with plants, and she already had enough experience with deadly plants to last her a life-time. Pink and Link were two names that usually came to mind whenever Ranma showed up for Herbology.

Shaking her head, the cat-girl made her way into the greenhouse to see just what they'd be working with. What she saw made her completely stop. 'No, you can not be serious.' She thought to herself as she laid her eyes upon the plant that was sitting on the table. The thing was familiar because she was once attacked by the damn thing. Deciding to keep her distance, Ranma watched as Prof. Sprout greeted the class. "Welcome back after the enjoyable holidays, class!" She stated happily before she motioned towards the plant on the table. "Now, can anyone identify as to what this species of plant is. It's quite rare, so none of you may know." Her eyes caught sight of the way Ranma was acting. "Miss Malfoy, you seem to know what this plant is. Care to tell us all?"

Cursing to herself, Ranma gave a small nod. "It's an annoying plant known as the Shotgun Bean Plant. It is named that because it will spit out a barrage of beans if it feels threatened in some way. The things were once used in ancient Japan to drive away oni. If one is not careful with their emotions, the plant may mistake them as a threat and attack them."

"A very good job, Miss Malfoy. You almost act as if you've had to deal with this type of plant before." Prof. Sprout stated in interest. "That is exactly why I decided to have you all learn about this plant species. Since it coincides with the Japanese idea of the 'end of the winter holidays', I decided a little culture could be a fun thing. Except for the beans it spits out, the plant is harmless." Ranma did not like the way that Prof. Sprout was looking at her. "Miss Malfoy, could you please give a demonstration as to just how the plant operates?"

"I'd rather not, Prof. Sprout."

"But you seem to be the most familiar with the specimen."

Ranma gave a small glare towards the earth-covered teacher. "I'd rather not be a target to that stupid th-- OW!" She shouted as the plant charged forth and started pummeling her with beans due to her… slightly threatening disposition that it felt. "Hey, knock it off you stupid plant!" Ranma shouted as she hit it upside the head. This prompted the thing to shoot out a jet of beans that filled up the cat-girl's mouth completely. In response, she proceeded to do a familiar action that she had once did long ago: she spit the stream of beans back at it. While it was stunned, Ranma grabbed it and held her hand forcefully over its mouth.

"You always seem to have a way with things around here, sis." Draco stated sarcastically with a half-lidded stare. This prompted a few chuckles and giggles from the surrounding students. The glare he received didn't faze him at all as he proceeded to do a little teasing. "At lease we know that you can always attract the fire of something dangerous if it were near, assuming it doesn't run away from you first."

Ranma uncovered her hand from the plant. "Spit beans at the blonde-haired boy, otherwise I'm going to introduce you to some fire. I'm sure you'd burn pretty well." Scared over the thought of being set on fire, the plant fired a couple rounds at Draco before flying off and back onto the table-- very far away from Ranma. 'Damn I really hate this class.' Ranma thought to herself as she watched Draco spit beans out of his mouth. 'If I could, I'd introduce all these plants to a little fire.'

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Getting back into the grind of the way things went at Hogwarts was easy, but that didn't mean that Ranma was enjoying everything. She mostly found herself sleeping during Defense Against the Dark Arts class due to Quirrell's inability to make things seem interesting -- something that had to do with werewolves, -- and her knowledge of the stuff already. Her danger senses were also on higher alert more than ever before. What she wouldn't give to expose the bastard to Harry, Ron, and Hermione so that they would learn that it wasn't always the 'obviously sinister' that would do the deed. There was also the question as to why none of the teachers -- including the old fart -- thought that something was up with the turban-wearing man.

Ranma was completely forbidden by McGonagall from doing Transfiguration assignments without her wand after a couple more… violently explosive mishaps happened. Flitwick, however, had no problems with her not using her wand and still managing the assignment, although he did dock points away a few times. Ranma figured that a little more practice would be needed before she could fully manage.

Oddly enough, she seemed to be quite good at Potions class-- despite the fact that she and Snape didn't really care much for each other. The potion-maker decided to go the 'high and mighty' route whenever they started to get annoyed with each other, but it seemed like he was impressed with her as well. Ranma would sometimes help Neville and Harry a little when Snape wasn't looking. The former of the two had the most problems when it came to their professor, while the latter let his dislike get to him. In fact, after Ranma had helped them figure the part about the Philosopher's Stone out, Ron, Harry, and Hermione had attempted to keep an even sharper eye on the greasy-haired man to make sure he didn't try anything fishy. Oh well, they'd find out soon enough.

Ranma still hated Herbology, and she was sure that the plants even hated her as well. There was no other reason for why she had so much trouble with the damn things. Astronomy was actually one of her favorites. This was mostly because of the fact that when you live in a house full of aliens for almost nine years, you tend to learn a lot, and when you have a way to go to outer space anytime you want, learning about the stars would be a good thing. Even in her previous two incarnations, watching the stars had a slight calming effect.

She also managed to earn a few more stares when she took to using her computer. If walking through the halls with a small yarn-ball shaped mini-computer floating in front of you as you type away wasn't weird, then having Laira pop up and transform into her humanoid form was even weirder. However, this caused quite a few squeals from female students about the cabbit being so much cuter. Ranma could only roll her eyes at her daughter's behavior, but smirked once she learned that Laira managed to score free candy and snacks off of some people by using her cuteness as a weapon. The young cabbit was truly a chip off of the block after-all.

Ranma soon found herself actually anticipating the re-starting of the Quidditch season. The game may have seemed slightly odd, but it was actually fun to watch two teams challenge each other to a game and see who would come out on top. Dodging those bludgers took some skill that some didn't seem to have, and outflying the competition with the quaffle thingie needed speed. Even the snitch required one to have fantastic senses, reflexes, and speed to obtain the small ball before the opposing team. To the redhead, Quidditch sounded like a great game, but the redheaded cat-girl figured that she'd probably never play a game.

No, it would be best if she didn't get completely involved with the Slytherin house at all. She had found a few weeks before holiday break, and even more so after, that many in her own house -- sadly, including Draco -- had a 'better than thou' attitude, bullied quite a few people from the other houses, and were just plain detestable. This, however, wasn't true for _**ALL**_ of the Slytherins. There were some that Ranma knew -- including Gosaria and Nashigi -- who were helpful and nice. Still, it wasn't enough for her to actually feel any 'house pride' or priority to help the house overcome the others. Playing Quidditch and working hard to earn points would help her contribute to the asses in the place.

Ranma, for the sake of getting out of the castle, would often watch teams practice. This nearly got her into a shouting match with that Oliver Wood guy when he noticed that she was watching them practice. He went on to mention about her possibly being a spy to try and inform Slytherin of Gryffindor's _**SUPERB**_ new plans. Ranma had managed to piss off the Gryffindor Quidditch captain even further by dismissing him as a complete fool and walking off and away from the area. Wood became smug at the thought that he got rid of her, but didn't know that Ranma still watched in secret.

It wasn't long before one of the first matches of the new year would be upon them -- more like a week away, and as it turned out, the first match would be between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. That alone wouldn't seem interesting, but the fact that Snape would be refereeing caused Ranma to raise an eyebrow. She was almost certain that Gryffindor would have a slight disadvantage because of that, and she wondered just what would come of it.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"So who do you think will win the match, Lina?" Gosaria asked in curiosity. The blonde seemed to be greatly excited about being able to see another Quidditch game. Ever since Ranma had gotten back from holiday break, her friend had constantly talked about how she couldn't wait for Quidditch to begin again.

Ranma closed her eyes for a moment and thought about it. After watching all the teams practice -- and the strategy that each had, -- she was able to get a clear idea of their skills. Still, early planning could only get you so far in a challenge, but if she were to make a guess… "I'd say Gryffindor will have the edge in this match."

"Ooohohohohohooo, but of course, you have an eye for skill, Lina." Nashigi stated as she prepared another laugh, but she was stopped by her shorter friend before any of the surrounding students could pull their wands out to jinx her. "You always ruin my laugh, Lina." Nashigi pouted.

"That's because the thought of your death -- while it would stop that laugh -- is not something that I like to think about."

"You certainly do have a good heart, Lina." An aged voice behind the redhead stated in amusement. Turning around, Ranma saw that the one who spoke to her was Dumbledore. The old wizard's eyes twinkled with that half-hidden mirth he always seemed to carry around. "It's good to know that your use of black magic hasn't taken that away from you after all these years."

Ranma frowned before giving a snort at the statement. "You wizards and witches have it completely wrong, old fart. It's not the dark arts that end up changing a person, it's the person their self who is the reason. They get a little bit of power in their grubby hands, and then they think they can do anything. They don't care about the little guy and insist on causing pain and misery. It's those types of people who turn the dark arts into something of evil and fear. It is then my job as a martial artist to protect people to the best of my abilities. You hear that, old fart?" Dumbledore's eyes merely twinkled in mirth as he gave a nod. 'God, I really hate how all these older than dirt and powerful people seem to have ideas on what is happening and keep it hidden.'

"You are quite right, Lina." Dumbledore responded with a sage nod. "It is good to know that the future is in safe hands." A chuckle escaped from the elderly wizard. "Well, at least as soon as you learn how to _**NOT**_ cause explosions and property damage with that magic of yours."

Ranma gave a small glare before smirking. "You know very well that I can take you on any time and win, old fart. We also know that it's not _**ALL**_ my fault when explosions and property damage happen." She said the last part with a tinge of pink on her cheeks.

"That's only if we were fighting without wands, Lina. I dare say that if we were restricted to just wands, you would find that you still have a lot to learn." Dumbledore commented with a smile as he started to walk away.

"Is that a challenge, old fart?" Ranma yelled after him. "I'll take you on anytime and win!" The cat-girl shouted with a cocky smirk. It fell when she noticed that the old man was just going to keep on walking and not turn around. A small whack upside the back of her head happened a second later. Turning around, Ranma saw that it was Gosaria who did it. "What was that for?"

"You're making a scene, Lina." Nashigi answered while trying to contain a smirk. Looking around, Ranma noticed that several students were staring at her as if she was crazy. "Wouldn't it be best if we just hurried up and found some seats to sit in?" The dark-haired girl asked her slightly red-faced 'rival'.

"Err… yeah, let's go." The redhead stated as the three continued on towards the bleachers and made their way up. When they reached an area with enough room, a smile appeared on Ranma's face. "Hey Hermione!" The cat-girl greeted to her brown-haired friend as she sat down behind the intelligent witch. Glancing next to Hermione, Ranma smirked. "And how are you today, Freckles?" The name caused Ron's ears to go slightly pink and Hermione to almost giggle. "Aw come on, the name suits you perfectly. Oh, and hello to you too Neville." The third Gryffindor gave a small wave and smile in response.

"Stop calling me Freckles!" Ron stated in annoyance. "It's bad enough that you teamed up with my brothers to turn me into a human painting with rabbit ears."

"Well, I didn't appreciate the thought of being told that I was just like all the other Slytherins because of my doubt of Snape. I like to think of this as making us even, Freckles." The redheaded boy gave off a huff and turned around. His calm and commentary of Snape was short-lived as Draco bumped into the back of his head. This also earned Draco a heavy glare from Ron. "Come on, Draco, don't go and start anything now." Ranma stated with a frown.

Her brother gave off a fake look of sadness. "Aw come on, sis. It was an accident. I wasn't aware that Weasley was sitting there in my way." He was lying of course, and it was easy to tell by the fact that his two friends gave off a chuckle. "I do honestly wonder how well Potter will stay on his broom this time. Don't you all wonder as well? What about you, Weasley?" Ron was actually trying to ignore him and watch what was going on in the game.

"Draco--" Ranma began.

"Oh, I know how they pick players for the Gryffindor team! They feel sorry for them. I mean, you have Potter who has no family, the Weasleys have no money, and maybe you should try out for it, Longbottom. After-all, you don't have any brains!" This caused Neville go to red.

"Well, it's easy to see that the Malfoys are all the same when it comes down to making fun of others." Ron growled out as he looked at the two siblings. The surrounding students flinched when Ranma's eyes flashed crimson. After a quick moment, her eyes turned back to normal and she gave a slightly bored look to the redheaded boy.

"There's a difference between us, Ronnie boy. My teasing of people is meant to be more along the lines of 'good natured', or something like that. Hell, I just have a habit of insulting people when I try to get along with them. My brother here, however," she started with a point to the blonde boy, "is another story. His insults, put-downs, and attitudes towards other people are fully meant to do what they attempt. Next time you think about lumping me with others because of your bias, think about it." Ranma then proceeded to pull out Stringy 2.0 and plug some headphones into it, ignoring the people around her.

"Good job at angering my sister, Weasley." Draco stated with a fierce glare towards Ron. "At the moment, Longbottom seems to have more brains than you do, and that must be saying something." The three proceeded to get into a war of words for several more moments until both Ron and Neville decided to vent their annoyance by attacking Draco and his two friends. This went unnoticed by Hermione -- who was watching the match intently. Ranma, Gosaria, and Nashigi on the other hand…

"Freckles could use a little bit more work on that left hook." The cat-girl commented to her two friends.

"I don't think rolling around is all that effective in fighting someone." Gosaria added with a frown. "They seem to have no skill whatsoever."

"Ohohohoho, I disagree with that. Longbottom looks like he could make a fine fighter someday." Nashigi observed with a finger to her chin. "Still, they are nowhere near your level, Lina."

"Well, who knows, maybe with enough practice and guidance, they'll go far. Neville could use more of a confidence booster. Oh look, Harry caught the snitch." Ranma announced as her attention went back the game just as the end was announced. "I told you guys that Gryffindor would win, although I didn't think it would be so quick." 'The whole thing still looks like it would be fun.' She thought with a frown.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Your form during your fight was terrible, Draco." Ranma stated as she proceeded to tell her brother all the mistakes that he had made during his scuffle with Ron as they made their way back to the castle. "And that black eye isn't all that appealing either."

"Weasley just got in a lucky shot is all." The blonde boy stated grumpily as he placed his hand near his eye and winced. "I never thought a black eye could hurt so much." It was mostly because he had never got into a complete fight before. Ranma had hit him in the shoulder and gave him a slap to the back of his head before, but she never punched him hard enough to leave a large mark.

The cat-girl gave a small snort. "A black eye is nothing compared to broken bones, concussions, being near death, and the numerous other things I've experienced." Draco glanced at her with wide eyes and wondered just what the hell she had been doing over the years. "Here, let me fix that eye for you. I shouldn't do it because you deserved it, but since I'm so kind and generous." That caused a few people to roll their eyes. Placing her hand on the area of the battered eye, Ranma pumped a little healing magic into the area. After a moment, she removed her hand. "There, you're as good as new."

"Thanks a lot, sis." Draco said with a smile. His sister may be a bit on the weird side, but her abilities were impressive. It would have probably taken longer for Madam Pomfrey to help him, and the thought of walking around with a black eye for everyone to see was not appealing. Telling Ranma that he'd see her later, Draco walked off with Crabbe and Goyle right behind him. As Ranma, Gosaria, and Nashigi were about to follow, there came a small rustling in the bushes. This peaked Ranma's curiosity as the cat-girl made her way over and peered into them. What she saw made her groan in defeat.

"Damn it, not you already, old freak. I was hoping to go a little while longer without you showing up." Gosaria and Nashigi walked up behind her to see who she was talking to and frowned as well at seeing the diminutive form of Happosai.

"I still owe you for the stunt you pulled a while back, Ranma. You caused me quite a bit of pain, and that will be exactly what I'll be doing tonight. You are going to feel pain like you've never felt--" Before the aged pervert could finish, Ranma quickly used a polymorph spell and turned him into a temporary rabbit-- an ugly rabbit at that.

Ranma raised a fist in triumph. "Ha, I finally mastered how to use the polymorph spell!" Turning around, the cat-girl ignored the angry rabbit and started to walk away. "Yeah, yeah, I'll meet you tonight at the usual place. The spell will wear off in a little while, so don't get your stolen panties in a bunch." With one last death glare, the rabbit that was Happosai stormed off to plan the tort-- err-- training session for one redhead.

xxA.Nxx

One of the biggest things I've been trying to figure out is how to go about doing the points for the end of the school year. That's one thing that's been hitting a slight snag in my thought process.


	17. The Hatching of a Dragon

Wild Magic

Ranma 1/2, Slayers, Harry Potter, and any other series used in this fanfic are owned by their respective creators/publishers/whatever

Thanks to CyberSkaarj and the people of for pre-reading

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Chapter 17

A yawn threatened to force its way out of Ranma's lips as she sat next to a tree and waited for a certain old pervert to show up. After sparring and training against herself -- literally -- for the last few weeks after getting back from winter vacation, Ranma felt that she might actually be closer to where her abilities used to be. "Where is that damn pervert? He should have been here by now, unless he's busy trying to steal underwear somewhere." Her question was answered when a noise came from the bushes, and Happosai walked out of them a second later. "It's about time old freak. What took you so long?"

"That blasted transformation spell of yours is what took so long. It just wore off about five minutes ago." Happosai growled out with an obvious looks of anger upon his wrinkled face. The anger soon turned into a very sinister smile. It was the type of smile that could curdle milk if given the chance. "Now, _**girl**_, we're going to see if you've been slacking off these last few weeks." Without another word, the diminutive master shot forward in an attempt to punch Ranma in the stomach. His fist hit the tree as Ranma jumped and sprang off the tree and landed on her feet a couple meters away.

Upon landing on her feet, the cat-girl sent her own series of kicks that were blocked by Happosai. Her opponent brought out his pipe and used it to catch her ankle and give her a quick flip into the air, but Ranma also managed clip his shoulder with a quick punch. Halting in midair, Ranma went on the defensive as the elderly pervert leapt after her and traded blows. The cat-girl found herself with a few bruises, but managed to land one or two hits upon the pervert before Happosai stepped up in his assault and knocked her towards the ground. "You're still hundreds of years too young to defeat me, Ranma." Happosai taunted as he landed onto the ground.

"Shut up, old letch." Ranma growled out as she stood up. A smile came to her face a moment later as her hands started to glow a greenish color. With a quick motion, she slammed her hands against the ground. Her opponent looked on and was about to comment about how nothing had happened, but he didn't get the chance as the earth he was standing on gave a small shake before hands made out of stone and dirt shot out from the soil and grabbed him by the arms and legs. "How do you like it, Happosai? It's a spell I created by mixing a little mana and ki to mold the earth to hold my opponent in place." Flexing her fingers, Ranma charged forward and delivered a few punches and kicks to Happosai's shoulders and knees. They were light punches, but the aged perverts face twisted into a look of discomfort as small arcs of electricity appeared on the areas hit. "You should feel lucky, perv. You're the first person who I've tested out my use of elemental punches on." After a bunch of trial and error after learning about the idea of adding magical effects into her punches and kicks, Ranma had finally been able to pull it off. However, the power behind the magic wasn't too strong.

Happosai glared at her for a moment before focusing his ki into his arms and legs to break the stone appendages that held him hostage. After breaking loose, Happosai disappeared from Ranma's view, but reappeared again with a few things that seemed familiar. A vein appeared on the redhead when she looked down and noticed that she was only in her underwear. "Why the hell did you do this again?!" She asked as she remembered the other time that the man did it.

The old master grinned again. "Think of it as a punishment for what you did to me when Taro appeared, as well as turning me into a helpless rabbit." He took a slow puff on his pipe. "If you _**CAN**_ defeat me, then you can have your clothes back. However, if you fail at the task at hand, then I think losing your clothes is understandable." A chuckle escaped from his small body. "Be thankful that I at least left you your underwear. I actually remember doing this once to Genma and Soun when they were younger, but I dare say that you're easier on the eyes!" He finished with a full blown laugh.

Ranma's face turned red as she leapt forward with her hands positioned like a cat ready to slice something to ribbons. Happosai dodged each strike as they came down and only managed to leave gouges in the dirt; however he wasn't expecting Ranma's feet to act in similar fashion and leave five red lines across his face. With a small cry in pain, the angered pervert produced a few Happo Daikarin and lobbed them towards Ranma. With a small curse, the cat-girl proceeded to use a Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken along with her claws to slice up the bombs before they exploded. One of them got past, however, and went off right in front of the redhead's face and flung her back into a tree. "Damn you, Happosai." She commented as she stood up.

As if on cue, the elderly martial artist appeared in front of her. "Didn't I tell you that you are too young to defeat me?" He asked with a hint of evil joy in his voice. His arms blurred forward and clipped the younger fighter on the shoulder before she teleported to another area of the battleground. When she materialized into view again, she found that she had no control over her left arm as it dangled by her side.

'Crap, he used a pressure point to immobilize my arm.' She thought to herself as she dodged several more punches and finger strikes that were being aimed for her other arm and her legs. Grabbing one of the finger strikes, Ranma sent a kick that caught Happosai and knocked him several meters away. Turning back to her arm, she was happy to note that it was coming out of its paralyzed state. It was just in time for Ranma to duck under another punch and shoot her foot out to kick Happosai right in the jaw and send him into a tree. Teleporting to his side, Ranma grabbed him with her tail and slammed him against the ground a few times before letting go and tail-slapping him away.

The cat-girl's vision soon became blurred when she was caught in a hurricane of panties and bras courtesy of Happosai. Ranma couldn't rely on her senses either, since the lingerie had a potent perfume on them that fouled up her sense of smell. Virtually blinded by it all, she was a sitting duck to several attacks from her opponent before she was knocked to the ground with a finger pointing right at her throat. "I know of quite a few pressure points that could put you into terrible pain, _**child**_. If you don't give up, I will press them." The aged pervert soon found an energy sword pressed against his throat.

"And if you make a move, I won't be responsible for the consequences." A voice -- belonging to Ranma -- stated at barely a whisper. Happosai was shocked at this, and so he looked down at his captive. What he saw was actually a doll in the form of the young cat-girl. That meant that Ranma actually was behind him. "You know, I really do owe Washu for teaching me that." The cat-girl stated offhandedly before shaking her head. "Well, it looks like I win, letch."

Happosai grumbled under his breath before he agreed. When Ranma removed the bar of energy, a small chuckle made its way out of Happosai's lips. "You only won by being sneaky, and we both know I would have defeated you, so…" With a quick Daikarin, the aged pervert tossed it at Ranma's clothing and destroyed it. "I do hope you enjoy making your way back without anything to wear." He only laughed giddily at the look of anger that came to the redheaded cat-girl's face. "I really do hope you fill out soon. I really miss those soft--" He didn't get to finish as a Dill Brand erupted from the ground and sent him flying into the air and out of sight.

"I hate that damn pervert!" Ranma shouted in annoyance as she punched a tree. "Xellos is better than that letch by leaps and bounds!"

"I'm oh so glad you feel that way, Ranma." An amused voice stated from behind the cat-girl. Turning around quickly, Ranma saw that it indeed was Xellos. The purple-haired mazouku was leaning next to a tree with his usual facial expression.

"Great, I get rid of one annoyance, and then another one pops up after I mention his name. What is it that you want, Xellos?"

Xellos made a small frown as he put a hand on his left chest. "You really do wound me, Ranma, and to think that I stopped by just to see how you were doing." He received a blank stare from the redhead and merely shrugged. "Well, I actually came to give you a little advice for the future." This caught the redhead's attention. "Monster-sized Omelette it might make, but the cloaked one is to be weary of."

Ranma rolled the thought around in her head and could say the only thing that came to mine. "What?" She found Xellos poking a finger to her nose.

"That's all the help you will get from me on the subject, Ranma." Xellos tilted his head at the annoyed look upon the cat-girl's face. "By the way, I notice that you are currently lacking any suitable clothing after Happosai destroyed it."

"What's it to you?!" Ranma asked as she became slightly red.

"Hmm… no reason at all. It just surprises me that you haven't pulled out any spare clothes from your subspace pocket yet." That statement caused Ranma to freeze. A moment later, she slapped her left hand against her forehead and let loose a small curse. "It looks like vast intelligence doesn't help one in the common sense department, does it, Ranma?" The purple-haired demon tossed a bundle of clothing to the redheaded cat-girl. "What say we have a little bit of amusement around here?"

Ranma glanced at the bundle of clothing before giving a small smirk. "Why not? We can't have it becoming too boring around here. Keeping these children on their toes is what I do best." She then added 'even at my own unwilling expense sometime' under her breath. "By the way, Xellos," Ranma began, "When are you going to get back to training me in my magic?"

Xellos put on a show of trying to think. "Not for a while. I have… other business to attend to." He stated cryptically. He noticed that Ranma was about to ask something and brought up a finger. "Ah, it's a secret."

"Whatever" Ranma grumbled out as a part of her hoped that it wouldn't include something that would involve her in some grand scale operation of some sort.

"In the meantime," the demon began, "you can help yourself by working on those pitiful excuses that you considered new skills." Ranma gave off an indignant 'hey'. "I mean, really, anybody could break through those weak stone arms, and those elemental punches hardly even leave a mark. I'm sure that if Happosai wanted, he could have defeated them easily." Xellos finished as he gave a small wave and vanished before Ranma could rebuke his insult to her.

'Stupid demon is going to regret that remark the next time I see him.' She thought in annoyance as she started to put on the clothes Xellos had given her. After getting dressed, Ranma decided to do a little practice since there was nobody around to bug her.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Gosaria gave a small yawn as she attempted to do the homework she was given for History of Magic. The only problem was that she had slept through most of the class, and she wasn't sure what the answers to anything were. "This is so boooooring." She whined out as she slapped the side of her head. Gosaria was also aware of several others who were having the same problem. Many were also thinking that maybe Ranma -- it was somehow leaked out that she was able to stay awake during the classes -- could help them a little with some of the more annoying questions. Gosaria wasn't in the same boat. No, she was just… waiting for her friend to get back so she could ask how her fight went.

The sound of Ranma's teleportation ability -- it was almost non-existent, but could be heard if there was complete silence -- alerted most of the students to the redhead's presence. When they all caught sight of Ranma, they had to blink several times at the outfit she was wearing. Even Gosaria had to blink a few times before she took a closer look. The outfit looked exactly like the one that Xellos wore -- only it was made in Ranma's size with a hole in the back for her tail. There was also a mini-replica of Xellos's gnarled staff to go with it. All in all, the outfit caused the redhead to look exactly like the sorcery user that she was, but it also caused her to look a lot like a certain trickster demon, and even the expression on her face was the same.

As she glanced around, Ranma noticed the looks she was receiving. "What? I felt like a small change." She lied as she tapped the tip of the staff on the floor. Nobody said anything as they decided that the best thing to do would be to ignore it.

"You look like you can kick some serious ass, momma!" Laira shouted from her spot in one of the chairs. She then received a look that caused her to blush. "I mean-- you look like you could handle anything." She stated with the kind of big-eyed look that said 'I'm too cute to be in trouble'. This caused a couple older girls to grab her in a large hug and fawn over her.

Ranma rolled her eyes and muttered something about 'troublesome talking cabbit children'. 'I wonder what that mazouku meant when he told me that supposed hint for the future. Did it have something to do with me wanting to eat an Omelette? Damn it, why does he have to be so freakin' secretive?' Her thoughts were interrupted as a sneeze forced its way out of her. 'Crap, now I'm possibly going to get a cold because of Happosai. The next time I see that letch, I'm going to introduce him to the squid in the lake, or maybe the Grindylow. Of course, there are tons better creatures in the forest who'd love to have a go at him.' Everyone who caught sight of Ranma's smirk felt a small bit of foreboding for whoever she was thinking about.

"Hey Lina," a voice said. Ranma turned around to see one of the students in her year, Blaise Zabini. Ranma didn't really care much for him because of his excessive vanity and apparent prejudice against 'muggle-borns' and 'blood traitors'. In fact, he had even called her a 'blood traitor' before due to her willingness to hang around with 'muggle-borns'. Of course, that comment ended up pissing off Draco, and the blonde had actually punched Blaise hard enough to give him a terrible black eye.

"What?"

"Help me with these History of Magic questions." He stated in a voice that made it sound like he wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. "Since you seem to be immune to that ghost teacher's ramblings, you'd be able to give me the answers." Blaise thrust the questions into her hands and stared intently. Ranma let off a snort before tossing the paper back to him.

"It's simple." Ranma stated as she decided to 'have a little fun' by slipping into a trickster-like personality.

"What are they, then?" Blaise asked curiously.

"What's what?"

"The answers to the questions." The tall boy asked as he started to get annoyed.

"What about them?" Ranma had to hide the amusement she felt that threatened to come to the surface, and it wasn't an easy thing to do. She practically had to almost bite her cheek.

"I want you to tell me the answers to the damn questions!"

"Oh, well why didn't you say so?" Ranma asked as she made her eyes go wide before she motioned for him to come in close. "The answers to the questions," the boy was hanging on every word, "are a secret." She finished as she wagged a finger. This caused her verbal sparring partner to redden in embarrassment and anger at being fooled so easily. "If you really want the answers, figure them out yourself, 'Bini." Ranma stated with a smile as she gave him a pat on the shoulder. She then turned around to walk off, and the staff she was holding bumped against the tall boy's legs and knocked him onto his butt. "Sorry about that, 'Bini. It's hard to control a staff."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As she had planned, Ranma had spent the weekend dressed in the outfit that Xellos had provided her with. It was actually amusing to be _**purposely **_causing people to stare at her because of how she was dressed and the fact that shee had her eyes squinted with an amused smile plastered on her face. Nashigi and Gosaria had asked her about it and why she was doing it. Ranma's explanation was that she was just bored, and since she was already looked at oddly by many people, there wasn't any harm in it. The redhead also mentioned about how much fun it was to mess with the minds of both the students and teachers.

Because of the expression she used, Filch almost seemed to watch her every move because he was 'suspicious of that no-good trouble magnet' of a smile. Ranma also guessed it had something to do with her accidentally causing damage and messes that he had to clean up and fix. In fact, she even learned from Fred and George that she had a file that was already almost a third of what theirs was. It wasn't her fault that she caused accidental damage and reportable mayhem. Besides, they were all relatively minor, except for problems that were caused on purpose when she teamed up with Fred and George. She still occasionally got an earful from Mrs. Norris about the problems she caused that Filch ranted on about to her.

She couldn't keep the 'trickster' charade going on as long as she thought she could, however. She just wasn't the type who could go around and act like they didn't have a care in the world. After dropping the act, Ranma then disappeared to work on fixing up her elemental punches and the ground manipulation skill that she had decided to name 'Earthen Grasp'. She also worked on her usage of the wand spells as well. Ranma still wanted to get back at Happosai and get rid of him for a while, and she had just the idea to get rid of the letch as well.

It was a couple nights later when Ranma managed to find the old pervert and enact her plan to place him in a dangerous predicament. More specifically, she tossed him into the well-planned path of a group of nymphs and female centaurs who were bathing deep within the Forbidden Forest. Needless to say, Happosai made a complete beeline for their chests. Of course, when he did this, he incurred the wrath of the feminine creatures who yelled out about how they were being violated by some shriveled up human/gnome hybrid. So distracted in his perverse nature, Happosai was blindsided by the hooves of one of the centaurs. The last thing Ranma saw of him was that he was being dragged away. Her ears picked up a nymph mention something about tossing the letch to the acromantulas, or maybe even have him run around for his life within the forest.

Ranma had to slightly wonder if she did the right thing, but ended up shrugging it off after thinking about everything the pervert had done. The way she saw it, she was doing the entire world a favor. Happosai's time was long overdue, and he should at least go out doing what he loved. Besides, training by herself was much safer for her health, and she had been doing fine for the last nine years before Happosai had shown back up in her life. A smile also broke out on her face when she thought about the last great act of the old letch: acknowledging her as the new master of the school of Anything Goes. It wasn't too hard of a job. All it took was a few bottles of firewhiskey that she… purloined from that Hogsmeade place that Fred and George had told her about. Once Happosai was intoxicated, it was an easy matter of getting him to sign everything over. Now, if he did somehow manage to get out of his current predicament, there wouldn't be a thing he could do if he tried to say otherwise. Maybe she should also make a few copies of the document just in case.

Now all she had to really worry about was the vague clue that Xellos had given her. No matter how much she tried to figure it out, she couldn't. She figured it possibly had to do with an egg of some kind, but that was about it. The 'cloaked one' also threw her for a large loop. She couldn't even begin to count how many wizards and witches in cloaks she had seen move around. In her mind, the clue was probably just a bunch of crap that wouldn't happen for a long while. She wasn't good at understanding this stuff, and it was easier to just wait for it to happen. Of course, usually that involved whatever it was lashing out at her first before she figured it out, but what could you do?

In the meantime, she'd keep on training herself in the Room of Requirement. She still found it amazing that no matter how much noise she made, nobody ever seemed to hear it. Even if they did hear it, they probably wouldn't know where she was. Ranma could make as much noise as she wanted, and nothing would come of it. All in all, it was also the best place to bring Nashigi and Gosaria so they, too, could practice. Well, for Nashigi to practice her control of sorcery, and for Gosaria to try and get a handle on her own ability for magic without a wand. She wasn't too bad with wand magic, but suffered from not being able to do it effectively without.

The blonde had serious trouble with achieving the desired magic without her wand, but for some odd reason -- possibly due to her past life, -- she found that by focusing her magic into her wand, she could use it almost like a sword. It wasn't as useful as a regular sword would be, but she could practice the movements until she actually got herself one. All three of them had decided that they would have to get Gosaria a sword sometime for her to get used to. At the thought of it, Gosaria had begun to jump around with a happy look on her face before slashing at some practice dummies that were stationed in the room.

It was getting slightly harder to find the time to practice, however. Something must have triggered the teachers to start loading them all up with work to do as time passed. It started out gradual, but Ranma soon noticed an incredible increase in it. Some of it -- Defense Against the Dark Arts and History of Magic -- wasn't too hard, but there were others -- Herbology -- that outright screamed difficult. Because of this, she found herself a regular in the library several times, and this also meant that she would run into the Gryffindor Trio a lot. Of course, Ron still had problems with her calling him 'Freckles'. The cat-girl couldn't really help it since it had become a force of habit.

"You know, I would really appreciate it if you would stop calling me Freckles, Lina." Ron grumbled out in annoyance as Ranma joined the trio at one of the tables in the library.

Ranma just gave off a shrug. "Sorry, but like I said a while back, it's a force of habit. The name just suits you really well. It's just like how I refer to the old fart and some other people by a kind of nickname. I get to calling them a certain name, and it just fits." She silently commented about how some people had gotten a little violent about it over the past though. The three she was sitting with proceeded to sweat drop and wonder just how many people the girl had pissed off. "Ah well, it's not like it's all that big of a deal, right?"

"Yeah, but all of my siblings have freckles. I don't hear you calling Fred, George, or even Percy by that nickname. I bet you wouldn't even call my younger sister or my two eldest brothers 'Freckles' either. You seem to insist on only referring to me by it."

The cat-girl merely gave a lazy shrug. "You're the one it stuck to."

Ron was about to comment back when Hermione elbowed him lightly in the side. The brown-haired girl then regarded her friend. "How are you doing with your studying for the exams, Lina?" That question caused Ranma to blink.

"The exams aren't for another 10 weeks, Hermione." The cat-girl commented as her ears gave a small twitch.

"That's what we said." Harry and Ron said at the same time in almost the same tone of voice.

Hermione gave a large frown. "Yes, but that's like a second to Nicholas Flamel." The three Gryffindors could have sworn that they had heard Ranma say something about it 'probably being shorter for most of the people I know' and 'time's really going to fly for me'. Not really understanding what she meant, they decided that it was probably just one of those 'Lina oddities' that people of Hogwarts have agreed to. Shaking her head, Hermione asked her question again.

"I figure that I'll just wing it." She received a glare from her friend. "I don't really see why I have to bust my brains out. I already know almost everything about Defense class, and History of Magic is no problem. I still can't believe that I am unable to sleep in that class." Ranma grumbled to herself. "Besides, the only class I have a real problem in is Herbology." The trio sweat-dropped as the redhead mumbled for possibly the umpteenth time about how much fire would solve that problem. Hermione merely shook her head as she went on about how she should still study. Ranma pretended to listen until her eyes caught sight of someone coming into view. "Hey Hagrid, how're the creatures in the forest coming along?"

The other three turned around in shock at seeing the large man shuffling around with his hands behind his back.. They had never seen him walk around in the room before, and it was obvious why he didn't visit the place all that often. "They're doin' alright, but I keep hearin' somethin' about a human/gnome hybrid runnin' around the place and harassing the female creatures. I haven't seen him, but I've heard that he could hold his own against many o' them." Three of the seated students looked on in confusion at the thought of a human/gnome hybrid causing problems. The fourth, however, was trying to cover up her mirth by holding a book in front of her face.

"So what are you doing in the library?" Harry asked.

"I'm Jus' lookin'." The half-giant stated in a slightly shifty voice that caused Ranma's ears to twitch. "An what're you all doin' here?" He asked as he changed the subject. "Yer still not lookin' fer Flamel, are yeh?" Ranma had to keep the book in front of her face to keep from laughing at how much Hagrid was panicking when Ron mentioned that they knew who he was and what Fluffy was probably guarding. After a few more questions, Hagrid became both impatient and nervous before he commanded them not to go 'rabbiting' around and left.

No sooner had he left did they all start to wonder just what the large man had been doing in the library. Ron made his way over to the section and came back not long after with a few books in his arms and placed them onto the table. Ranma gave a small glance at the books. "I guess this means that Hagrid is studying up on how to raise a dragon." She stated in interest.

"Well, Hagrid mentioned about how he always wanted one when I first met him." Harry commented slowly.

"It's illegal to keep dragons though." Ron stated back as he went on a drawn out description of the law against keeping dragons and how hard it would be to keep them with Muggles around. This prompted Harry to ask if there were wild dragons in Britain. "Of course there are wild dragons in Britain; Common Welsh Green and Hebridean Blacks to name a couple. You wouldn't believe the trouble the Ministry has with keeping them quiet. Our kind has to keep putting spells on the Muggles who've spotted them to make them forget."

"Wait a minute," Ranma began getting a little annoyed, "are you telling me you actually have people who go around and cast spells to _**MAKE**_ non-magical people forget?" She could understand hiding things, and she could understand things being magically bewitched, but to actually have the nerve to go around and take away someone's memory just because you want to keep your precious world a secret? "Do you realize how damn well screwed up that is?"

"Well, we can't really have Muggles going around and learning about all the things that go on in the wizarding world. Can you imagine all the problems it could cause?" Ron asked with a slight frown. "I mean, if Muggles really found out about all the magical--"

"It sure seems as if this Ministry of yours has something shoved up its ass." Ranma hissed slightly. "I don't remember any precaution regarding magic over in Japan, China, and around there. Try and visit some areas around there and I'm sure you'd see magic occur quite a bit in the open around that area." The cat-girl's response caused the redheaded boy's ears to turn pink, but before he could say anything, Hermione spoke up.

"Knock it off you two." Ron sent a small glare her way before crossing his arms and calming down. "Why don't we all just go see what Hagrid is up to?"

Harry gave a quick nod. "Good idea, Hermione. Maybe we're just taking things wrong and he's just reading up on dragons because he likes them."

"Well, I have nothing better to do." Ranma commented as she stood up from her seat and proceeded to walk away with the three Gryffindors. By the time she got to the door, however, her entire body was enveloped in a bright flash that caused everyone who was around the area to look on in shock at the sudden light show. When the flash ended, Ranma looked down and cursed to herself. "Damn it, I thought I wasn't going to have to worry about this thing anymore!"

"Uh, Lina," Harry began as he, Ron, and a few other students tried to control their faces at the sight of the outfit, "just what are you wearing?" He also noticed the glitter that fell from her body as well.

"It's a magical outfit that I accidentally obtained while exploring some ruins during holiday break. I got freaked out and destroyed -- beyond all repair -- the transformation pen that controlled it. Now I have a problem with it appearing randomly, and I have the people from thousands of years ago to thank." Her eyes snapped up as her ears twitched quickly at the telltale sounds of laughter threatening to explode. Raising a fist, Ranma glared at everyone. "If anyone of you makes as much as one chuckle--" The threat was left hanging as something popped into existence from Ranma's clenched hand. The thing was about four feet in length and was pink with the same bathed-in-glitter look, and it also had several dangling mini-pompoms. It was as hideous as the fuku, but at least it was something that could be used for whacking the enemy with. 'I wonder if Washu will help me with a time machine so I can go back and give the people who created this monstrosity a peace of my mind.' Ranma had to mentally shake her head. 'No, time travel just causes headaches. Anyone who messes with such a thing should be slapped upside the head.'

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After a few moments of fighting it -- and beaning a few people upside the head who dared laugh, -- Ranma finally managed to get back out of the embarrassing outfit that had forced its way onto her person. With that issue out of the way, Ranma and the three Gryffindors -- who somehow managed to hold in their laughter -- made their way out of the castle and across the grounds to Hagrid's hut. Ranma's curiosity was fully peaked when she noticed how all the curtains were tightly shut, and the voice of Hagrid cautiously asked who was at the door. When they finally got into the cabin, Ranma noticed that the place felt almost like the inside of an oven. If one wasn't careful -- or they didn't have experience with hotter situations, -- they were liable to get ill. Her eyes also caught sight of something sitting within the fire, but she couldn't make it out very well. She also missed the first part of the discussion and tuned into the middle of it.

"…what's guarding the Philosopher's Stone apart from Fluffy?" Ranma had heard Harry ask. The redhead wasn't in the dark like everyone else. She didn't know _**EXACTLY **_what everything was, but she knew a little due to her exploring of the castle several months ago and that the things must have been challenges..

"O' course I can't tell yeh." Hagrid answered nervously. "One: Not even I know what is exactly down there, and it's supposed ta be a secret. Two: You all already know a lot more than ya should. I would recommend that you all just forget about it and go on with yer normal lives."

"So what's under Fluffy is supposed to be a really big secret that nobody is supposed to know?" Ranma prodded as she scratched her chin. At the slow nod from the shaggy-haired man, Ranma gave a shrug before sitting down next to Fang. The boarhound gave her a large lick on the cheek as she scratched it on the head. "Challenges," Ranma provided as she continued to pet fang. "The only thing that I will say is that it looks as if the things down there are challenges of some sort."

Hagrid was nearly floored from what she said. "How did you, what did--" Harry, Ron, and Hermione were also standing there with their mouths opened.

Ranma gave them a small shrug. "I did a lot of exploring in the first few months I arrived, and ended up finding myself under Fluffy's trapdoor. I didn't go too far into the area because I got bored. It was maybe about two or three rooms, but it was boring, and I don't know anything past that. Also, since it's supposed to be a secret, I'm not going to tell any of you what was down there." That earned her three disheartened and one shocked stare. "Hey, it's not my fault Hagrid." Ranma stated defensively. "How was I supposed to know that flying through a random wall would lead me to that place? Like I said, I'll keep it secret. That's a promise." The redhead stated with a determined look upon her face that booked no arguments from anybody.

Hagrid put a hand to his head. "I swear ya kids are gonna meet yer deaths someday with stickin' yer noses where they don' belong." He sighed out in defeat. Figuring that hope was lost with trying to get information out of Ranma, Hermione felt the need to try and get Hagrid to open up by acting all warm and flattering. It was something that not even Ranma knew she had in her. As Hagrid talked about who helped in the protection -- Ranma and the Gryffindor trio both had similar reactions, but to two different people, -- Ranma glanced over to the fire and noticed the image of something that she could have sworn she saw earlier. After a couple moments, she was finally able to identify what she was seeing. It looked like a large… egg?

"Hagrid," Ranma began cautiously, "is that a giant egg in your fireplace?" Walking over to the fire and kneeling down, the cat-girl could see that it indeed was a large egg-- a large black egg. 'Yep, it's a giant egg alright. It's big enough for a huge Omelette.'

"Where did you get that, Hagrid?" Ron asked as he also glanced at the egg in the roaring fire. "That thing must have cost a fortune."

"I won it." Hagrid answered with a smile. "I was down in the village havin' a few drinks and got into a game o' cards with a stranger. He seemed quite glad ta get rid of it, ta be honest."

Ranma blinked at him. "And you weren't suspicious at all that a complete stranger would be glad and willing to give you a _**DRAGON**_ egg?" She asked incredulously. Anybody in their right mind couldn't possibly be willing to trust a complete stranger who seems all too willing to give something away. "Just what did this stranger look like?"

"I don't know." The half-giant stated with a shrug. "'E was wearing a cloak so I couldn't get a good look at 'im. A lot of wizards do that." Ranma could only stare at him for a moment before slapping herself on the forehead and sinking down into the chair next to fang again. Upon looking in the boarhound's direction, the cat-girl was almost sure that the dog rolled its eyes towards his owner.

'I sure hope he knows what he's doing.' Ranma thought as she looked around the cabin. 'He lives in a wooden cabin, and he's attempting to raise a dragon in it.' That thought alone had caused her to question the sanity of the magical world for the umpteenth time.

"I think it's best if ya all go on and get back ta the castle." Hagrid mentioned as he stood up. "I have to go inta the woods in a few moments an' check fer that rumored human/gnome hybrid that's makin' trouble."

'Perhaps I should do my part and look for the old letch. I didn't expect him to cause this much trouble.' Standing up, the cat-girl looked at the half-giant. "Hagrid, how about I help you look for this thing? I can hold my own in the forest, and I'm sure two pairs of eyes are better than one."

Hagrid shook his head. "No, I'm not gonna get in trouble fer lettin' a student walk around in the forest with me. There are too many dangerous things runnin' around in there, an' I'm not gonna do it."

A frown appeared on Ranma's face. "Have you forgotten about that cat-nip curse incident? I wasn't injured at all when I went into the forest." Not to mention that she had visited that place several other times.

Hagrid paused at the mention of that. He remembered that incident, and he heard Aragog and the centaurs complain about it a few times. In fact, Aragog and his children seemed frightened of the cat-girl when he mentioned her, and most of the centaurs seemed annoyed. "Still, it's too dangerous fer a child ta just waltz in like that. I will not take that responsibility."

"I understand, Hagrid." Ranma stated while trying to look honest and understanding. 'I'll just start searching around when I can. I'll eventually come across the letch.'

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was just seconds after leaving Hagrid's hut when Ranma snuck off into the forest to try and find Happosai and relieve the creatures of the forest of him. The problem, however, was locating the old letch. He must have done a lot of running around since his scent seemed like it was all over the place, and his ki also soaked the air itself. It might have not been a good idea to throw the man into this place, even though it _**SOUNDED**_ like one at the time. 'Good job, Ranma. You went and endangered the magical creatures and monsters of the forest by unleashing Happosai upon them.'

A rustle to her left caused her ears to focus in that direction a couple of seconds before her eyes did. Backing up a little ways, Ranma crouched down a little so that if it was a dangerous creature, she would be ready. What came out of the bushes caused her to slightly blink. The creature she was looking at seemed to be a large ferret of some kind and was sniffing the ground. The ferret glanced towards her and opened its mouth, and what came out wasn't something that Ranma was expecting.

"Bugger-off, plonker." It stated simply.

"Wha?" Ranma said dumbly at hearing the creature just talk. "You can talk?"

"Cram a sock in it and go jump off a cliff." At the continued staring, it almost seemed as if the ferret frowned. "I'm a Jarvey, you ignorant git." It finally provided. "Well, I'm not only _**A **_Jarvey, but a rather intelligent one if I do say so myself. Unlike all the other idiots in this forest, I can use other things besides a string of curses and insults." Ranma had to sweat-drop at the fact that the ferret look-alike had such a big ego. "Now screw off so I can hunt me some gnomes!" It finished as it gave a Jarvey-version of the finger.

She wasn't expecting to be insulted and flipped off by such a creature as this, and it only caused Ranma to go a little red before she punched the Jarvey upside its head. "Oh shut up, weasel." When the creature started to complain about being called a weasel, Ranma glared with enough intensity to shut it up. "I have a question for you, and if you start to insult me, I'll stick you up in a tree and let those Doxy things attack you." She stated as she point to a tree with a few tiny creatures moving around in the leaves.

"Those are bowtruckle you twit." The Jarvey grumbled to itself. Ranma's cheeks gained a small pink twinge before she coughed into her fist.

"Anyway, have you seen a small man of about three feet in height or so running around this forest and harassing the human-like female creatures? Supposedly he looks like a human/gnome cross." The gnome part caused the animal to perk its head up before it gave off a snarl.

"That bastard of a thing stepped on my tail a couple of days ago as it was running away from an enraged female centaur. I yelled after the fool, but it was no use. If I ever see it again, he's going to become a nice little snack." There was another rustling in the bushes as a Gnome popped out and glanced in their direction. When it saw the Jarvey, its eyes widened before it turned around to run. "If you'll excuse me-- uh-- kitten, I have me a gnome to chase down and eat." So saying, the ferret look-alike turned around and charged off after its prey. This left Ranma to give off a small sigh as whe went on to explore deeper into the forest for a certain elusive pervert.

'Something tells me that this won't be easy.' She thought to herself as she watched a Niffler trudge across her path, and then another Gnome eating some pinkish mushroom. 'This could take a while.'

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As Ranma had predicted, she had found no other sign of the ancient pervert within the forest except for complaints from the creatures who could speak the human language. Ranma had decided to hazard a guess and figure that Happosai had probably made his way out of the forest and was plotting his revenge in a nice and safe spot. The very thought caused the cat-girl to shiver. Truly getting on Happosai's bad side was not good for anybody's health. The best she could hope for was that he was still stuck and lost somewhere in the forest. It probably wasn't the best of times to search either, because her mind during those couple of days of searching was mostly on the thoughts of the dragon egg, and who the hell the cloaked figure was who gave it to Hagrid was. There was also a slight worry over the whole 'wooden cabin' thought.

It was at the end of those couple of days when Ranma was sitting down to breakfast with Gosaria and Nashigi. The cat-girl's eyes caught sight of Harry's owl, she forgot the name of it, dropping a note to the bespectacled boy. The way they started talking made her curious, and it was probably figured that letting her know as well at this time could bring up a lot of questions with the people around her. 'Laira, go over to Harry, Ron, and Hermione and ask them what the letter was about.' Ranma thought out to the cabbit via their mental link.

'Ok' Laira thought back as she appeared on Hermione's shoulder and whispered into her ear. "Momma wants to know what the letter was about."

"Tell her 'it's hatching'. We don't know when we'll go and see it though." Hermione whispered back.

When Laira relayed the info back to Ranma, the redhead gave a small nod. 'Follow them and let me know when they decide to go.' She really didn't want to miss the hatching of a dragon. It was probably a once in a lifetime event. Ranma then watched as the Gryffindor trio stood up and started to walk away.

"Those three are acting a little suspicious." Draco commented from his spot next to Ranma. Apparently he had noticed how they had acted after getting that letter. "I'm going to go see if I can sneak up and learn anything." The blonde commented after a second before he got up from his seat and walked off. Ranma was about to call out to him when a large egg hit her on the side of her head. Some of the yolk had actually splattered on the inside of her ear. Turning her head as she was trying to get the bit of egg out, she noticed a slightly embarrassed Gosaria and Nashigi.

"Sorry about that, Lina." Gosaria apologized as she scratched the back of her head. "We were both going for that piece of egg, and it kind of flew away from our forks. She gave off a nervous giggle.

Nashigi, on the other hand, merely shook her head. "Where's the great martial artist instinct, Lina? Shouldn't you have been able to dodge that?" She ended this with one of her laughs that was cut short due to her head being slammed into the table. As usual, everyone else at the table continued on eating and ignored the trio because they valued their health.

"I really hope your younger sister doesn't pick up on you and your mom's laughing habit. Then again, it seems as if she's going to be like your dad." At least Amelia's reborn self didn't seem to be too different from the past self, but the whole obsession with justice thing would be annoying.

"Hey, I keep telling you that there is absolutely nothing wrong with our laugh." Nashigi shot back with a serious look on her face that was slightly marred due to the little trail of blood on her forehead.

Gosaria merely kept on eating and tuned out the discussion between her two friends.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was in the middle of Defense Against the Dark Arts when Ranma heard word that the trio were going to make a quick stop at Hagrid's during the small break that they had between classes. The only problem was that Draco _**MIGHT**_ have heard something about it. The fact was slightly obvious when her brother seemed to have an interesting look on his face when he appeared in class and sat next to her. When she asked him why he was acting the way he was, he merely responded 'I think I might have learned something interesting'. If he did indeed learn of the dragon, Ranma wasn't sure what the outcome could be. The biggest probability would be him attempting to constantly remind Harry and the other two that he knew by acting smug and probably wanting to see it. The least likely outcome would be him outright telling the teachers or anybody else about it.

As soon as the class ended, Ranma vanished from the classroom and made her way towards Hagrid's cabin. On her way there, she met up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "You know, I'd be careful. I think my brother might be on to it all. He was acting weird in Defense class."

"That's all we need." Harry quietly stated with a sigh as Hagrid ushered them inside and closed the door. Upon entering, Ranma saw that the onyx-colored egg was lying on the table with several cracks that seemed to pulsate as small chirping noises could be heard within it. Taking one of the seats at the table, Ranma watched intently as the egg started to crack open. She also took out her mini-computer to record the moment. She wasn't sure if Washu had ever actually seen a dragon hatching from its egg before.

All at once, the egg seemed to explode open as the newborn dragon flopped out of its confines and onto the table. Ranma was amazed as she stared at the infantile black dragon as it stretched out its wings. Upon its back were a few pointy spines, and its orange-colored eyes glanced around the room before it gave off a sneeze that caused sparks to fly out of its snout.

"Amazing," Ranma stated simply as she put Stringy 2.0 away and leaned forward a little. She had never seen a newborn baby dragon before -- apparently Lina had never seen one either according to the memories she currently had, -- and it was a sight to behold. She continued to stare as the dragon's orange eyes looked over in her direction, and then she froze as it gave a small yelp of fright and bolted away from her and into the corner where Hagrid was sitting, and where it started shivering a bit.

"Well that was weird." Harry commented as he, Ron, Hermione, and Hagrid turned their attention to the scared baby dragon. "Hey Lina, why do you think--" Harry trailed off at the sight of Ranma, and even the other three in the room had to blink. The cat-girl was squatted down in the corner of the room and had her back turned towards them. There was an obvious feeling of depression as her cat-ears were flat on her head and her crimson tail was behind her drawing circles on the floor. Fang was standing next to her with his head tilted in confusion. "Err-- are you ok, Lina?"

Everyone was so distracted by Ranma's sudden antics that they didn't notice the small dragon pick its head up and glance over in her direction. Its fear was gone as curiosity at the bigger creature's actions bubbled up. Clumsily, it made its way from the spot it was at and walked to the edge of the table. Carefully, it jumped down onto the seat of the chair, and then down onto the floor. Slowly, it made its way to Ranma and stopped at her back. The newborn dragon then gave a nudge against her. This caused Ranma to turn around and glance at it. Blue and red eyes met orange eyes as the two stared at each other for a moment before the dragon attempted to climb up into the redhead's lab. Cautiously, Ranma reached down and picked up the winged creature in her arms and watched as it picked its head up and stared at her again. Then, suddenly, it gave her a lick on the chin.

"Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid gushed out before giving a small frown. "But I was hoping that he'd think of me as his mum though." The half-giant gave a shrug. "Oh well, maybe I should call him Norbert anyway." The thought of a dragon being named 'Norbert' caused the three Gryffindors to look back and forth between Ranma and Hagrid and wonder why things seemed just so weird.

"Greeeeaaaattttt," Ranma began with a roll of her eyes, "I'm a mother all over again. I wonder what I did to deserve this." Her nose gave a small twitch and noticed something of interest. "Um… Hagrid, I think 'he' is a 'she'. The scent is clearly telling me that it's a female dragon."

"Well, then her name will be Norberta!" Hagrid announced joyously before all the color drained from his face. When Ron asked him what the problem was, Hagrid answered that there was a kid who was looking in through the gap of the curtains before the kid took off. Harry rushed to the door and noted that the kid was Draco running back to the school.

"Craaaap, I'm never going to hear the end of this from him." Ranma sighed out as she glanced down at the dragon resting in her arms. "What, am I a Dragon Spooker _**AND**_ a Dragon Tamer?"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After handing Norberta over to Hagrid -- the young dragon gave him a nip on the finger as he took her, -- Ranma and the others proceeded to their next classes. For Ranma, it would mean that she'd have to put up with Draco's questions and comments. She hoped that he wouldn't spill the beans to anybody in the process.

Spilling the beans actually wouldn't be a problem since the class was History of Magic and in that class, hardly anybody paid attention to anything. To make even surer of the fact, Draco chose to sit right next to his redheaded sister so that he could whisper to her during the class. "So I see that the oaf has an illegal dragon." Draco whispered with a smirk.

"You aren't going to go and tell anybody about this, are you, Draco?" Ranma asked curiously as she glanced towards her brother. Sometimes she wished she could whack him upside the head whenever he got one of his annoying smirks.

After a couple moments of 'thinking', the blonde boy shook his head. "No, I think I'm just going to make them all sweat for a while. With information like this, it just wouldn't be proper to go and blab about it. I am sure that they will be wary of doing anything around me, and it'll be quite… amusing." He finished with a low chuckle.

"Well, at least you aren't going to go out of your way to get people in trouble." Ranma mumbled while rolling her eyes. She couldn't really fault him for having fun with it as long as nothing became serious.

"Hey, sis," Draco suddenly began, "I noticed that the dragon seemed really attached to you for some odd reason." At the redhead's nod, he continued. "I was wondering, what does holding a newborn dragon feel like?" There was a genuine curiosity in his pale eyes at the question.

After a moment of though, Ranma responded. "Well, the wings felt like rough leather, and her body seemed both rough and smooth in places. The spines on her body were already hard and pointy even though she was a newborn. The lick she gave me on the cheek actually had a little bit of heat to it, and its body felt warm."

"Wait, so it's a 'she'?"

"Yeah, and her name is Norberta."

"Norberta… a dragon named Norberta?" Draco asked incredulously with a weird look on his face. "I guess the gamekeeper thought up that name, am I right?" At his sister's confirmation, the blonde shook his head. "Oh, and sis."

"What?"

"Don't tell them that I'm just going to just make them sweat over it. I _**DO **_have a reputation to uphold you know. Besides, I also owe Weasley for getting a good punch on my eye during that Quidditch match." He finished with a smirk and a chuckle. This caused Ranma to shake her head and place her hand onto her forehead.

"Whatever," Ranma answered back as she agreed to keep it a secret.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Just as Draco had said, he didn't tell about the dragon to anybody and proceeded to just taunt the three Gryffindors with the fact that he knew and had the ability to tell on them at any given moment. When Harry had asked Ranma if Draco had said anything to her about it, Ranma merely stated that Draco told her that he knew about it and that there was nothing more that he had said about it other than a smug look upon his face. She could tell that this limited information was still enough to cause them to worry, but she did agree to keep what her brother told her a secret.

The true thing to worry about was that Norberta had grown a lot bigger before even the week had ended. Towards Hagrid and the other three, she had appeared to get angrier and more ferocious. Towards Ranma, however, the young dragon actually seemed to act all innocent and nice. When she mentioned this to Laira, the young cabbit jokingly said that she put 'the Dragon Spooker fear into her and managed to tame her'. That being the only logical explanation, Ranma decided to accept it.

Near the end of the week, while Ranma was curled up in one of the chairs in the Slytherin common room taking a small nap, Draco entered from the passageway with a book in his hand. The blonde boy proceeded to one of the chairs and sat down. He was slightly put off that his sister was asleep, since he wanted to tell her about 'how amusing Weasley looked with a swollen and greenish hand'. He knew that she was somewhat friends with them -- that Hermione girl especially -- and figured that taunting and insulting them was a good way to annoy her. After-all, it's natural for siblings to get under each other's skin.

Upon opening the book that he had… borrowed from Ron, Draco caught sight of a letter that caused his eyes to go wide. Feeling that he should wake-up Ranma and tell her about what he had found, Draco moved over next to the other chair. He had to time waking her just right, because if he didn't, it was possible for him to get punched in the head by the sleeping redhead. 'Damn her and her weird reactions while sleeping.' He thought before he got close to one of her ears. "Hey Lina, there's some free ice cream."

That caused the desired reaction that he was going for. Ranma's eyes instantly snapped open as she looked around. When she found that there _**WASN'T**_ any ice cream around, the cat-girl grumbled before she gave her brother a slap upside the head for the lie. "Never joke about things like that, damn it."

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Draco stated with a dismissal of his hand before he showed a piece of paper to her. "It looks like they're planning on getting rid of the dragon on Saturday at midnight. I don't know about you, but I actually want to go and watch these people pick up the dragon." He didn't really see why Potter and his friends always got to see the most interesting things. "Hey, are you going to go and see the dragon off? After-all, it _**DOES**_ think of you as its mother." He finished with a superior smirk that was wiped half-way off when he received another slap upside the head.

"One: You're liable to get caught by a teacher easily and get in loads of trouble. Two: I sometimes go to that tower on Saturday nights to lay and watch the stars anyway." Ranma stated as she ticked off on her fingers. "I _**WOULD**_ recommend that you don't go. If you manage to not get in trouble, then you'll only manage to cause a ruckus with your fantastic people skills." Draco gave off an indignant 'hey'.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

That Saturday night, Ranma was lying on her back at the top of the tallest tower and felt a little annoyed. The sky was almost completely cloud-covered, and so it would make watching the stars impossible. Still, a little cloud watching never hurt anybody. If one looked enough, they could catch shapes even when the sky is fully clouded over. She figured that maybe doing a few kata would be a good idea. There was always room for improvement, and slacking off was not an option.

As she was about to stand up, she heard the sound of a door being opened. Casting her eyes in the direction, she watched as the trap door on the floor of the tower popped open as… nothing came out. Oh wait; it was Harry and Hermione under that invisibility cloak that she had heard about. Norberta was also apparently in the crate they were carrying as well. Of course, if the sounds of something thrashing around inside the crate weren't a clue, then she didn't know what was. "It's too bad that it's so cloudy," Ranma began and startled the two. "The clouds make it hard to enjoy stargazing."

"Lina, what are you doing up here?" Hermione asked with wide eyes.

"I come up here sometimes to watch the stars. It's an old past time for me, and it's fun most of the time. I can just lie around and forget about almost everything around me." Walking up to the crate they were carrying, Ranma could see a little of Norberta's snout and teeth. The dragon could probably tell that Ranma was there because she stopped the angry noises she was making and waited for the cat-girl to do something. "Dang, you're acting like a crazed animal tonight." Ranma joked to the sealed-up dragon. "I'd hate to say this, but you're getting too big and feisty to keep around here, and so there are some people coming who are going to take you to a place where you can roam around. Doesn't that sound like fun?" The redhead asked as she phased a hand through the wood and scratched Norberta on the head.

The small whimper that the dragon made caused Ranma to frown. "Aw come on, there's no need to cry. Hey, I know, I'll come visit you sometime, how's that sound?" Norberta still made a whimper, but she soon calmed down. "There, that's a good girl."

"You're a natural dragon tamer, Lina." Harry commented in awe. Just a few moments ago they thought the dragon would outright bust out of the crate in a rage. Now it was sitting within its confines quietly and docile. "By the way, your brother was caught a few moments ago by McGonagall." He tried to not sound excited about it, but it was difficult.

"Damn it, I told the idiot that he shouldn't be running around because he'd get caught easily." Ranma growled out. "Oh well, those are the breaks." She added with a shrug. It wasn't her problem that he didn't listen.

It wasn't too long before the people who were coming for Norberta had arrived. When they learnt about how Ranma had quieted the dragon down so easily, they informed her that if she was ever looking for a job working with dragons, then Charlie Weasley would be the one to get in contact with. They even commented about how they'd put in a good word for her. The idea actually made Ranma seriously think about it as she waved goodbye to the group.

"You know, I'm going to miss that dragon." Ranma said in a slightly emotional tone to Harry and Hermione as she glanced in their direction. "I only knew her for a week, and somehow I feel as if I got attached to her." She added with her arms crossed.

"Are you ok, Lina?" Hermione asked slightly worried. After-all, she and Harry had seen Hagrid cry over the fact that Norberta had to leave. "If you need to cry--"

"Cry, what the hell are you talking about?" Ranma asked as she looked towards the two Gryffindors as if they were crazy. "C'mon, she was just a dragon that I got attached to, and I promised that I'd visit her again someday. Besides, a great martial artist like myself should not show such a thing."

"If you say so." Hermione commented as she turned to Harry and told him that they better hurry up and go. With a quick nod, the bespectacled boy joined his friend in heading down the tower and left Ranma to herself.

"Damn dragon," Ranma stated as she wiped her eye. "I guess I have some dust in my eye." She stated with a snort before turning around. Upon turning around, her eyes caught sight of something lying on the ground. Curiously, she walked up to it and picked it up. When she saw what it was, her eyes widened. "It's Harry's invisibility cloak. That means he and Hermione must have forgotten it and are now walking around without it." In fact, it probably made sense that they were already caught by now. "Maybe I should quickly get this to him."

It was at that moment -- as Ranma was holding it in her hands -- that a smirk played across her face as she tossed it around her. "Nah, I can give it to him later. Right now, I can have a little fun with it. As the saying goes, finder's keepers, loser's weepers."

xxA.Nxx

The chapter is finished, and it seemed to take quite a while for some odd reason. Oh well, I had fun with it, and I was glad I finally got to the Norbert scene. I can't think of how long that has played through my mind. It was like… forever. My main focus right now is to think on whether year one will have three more chapters, or two -- combining the trapdoor and Quirrelmort fight together.

Anyway, time for a question: During summer vacation, and after spending the month with Narcissa, should Ranma take Hermione, Nashigi, and Gosaria over to Japan to see Washu?


	18. Terror of the Forest indeed

Wild Magic

Ranma 1/2, Slayers, Harry Potter, and any other series used in this fanfic are owned by their respective creators/publishers/whatever

Thanks to CyberSkaarj and the people of Fukufics for pre-reading.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Chapter 18

Ranma glanced around as she made her way down the stairs from the astronomy tower. Her body was hidden underneath the invisibility cloak, and her mind was centering on a thought. She realized that she didn't really need the cloak due to the stealth abilities that she already had, but a part of her found that having such an item in her -- temporary -- possession was too good of a chance to pass up. Besides, with the cloak, she didn't need to concentrate on pulling her energy inward like she did with the umisenken. 'I wonder how they create something like this. I'll have to ask Dumbledore about it sometime.' Ranma's mind had drifted off towards other things. 'Maybe I can have a little fun while I have this thing.'

With an invisible smirk at the idea of creating a bit of mischief to liven up everyone's lives a little more, Ranma silently crept along. Her feet were making no sound at all. She didn't really know what to do first, but decided to just walk around until something came to mind. The only things of interest were a bunch of snoring paintings and a yawning suit of armor. She even caught quick glimpses of a house elf here and there. It was more like a split second image before disappearing. It was also the same thing with a few of the ghosts that lived in the castle, except they lingered around for a couple of moments before moving through the next wall.

Ranma's ears suddenly twitched as she caught the faint sound of somebody talking from somewhere in the hallway that she was currently in. Following her ears, Ranma homed in on the speech and finally came to a closed door. Quietly, she phased through the door a little and caught sight of Professor Quirrell with a look of concentration on his face. "When do we strike, master?" The turban-wearing man wasn't stuttering at all. "I know you want to get rid of the Potter boy soon. Why can't we make it look like an accident of some kind?" The man's eyes seemed to glaze over, and after a moment, he gave a quick nod. "I agree with that. There's a possibility that he would be needed for your plans, and just outright killing him wouldn't be satisfying." The man's expression turned thoughtful. "You are also right that the Malfoy girl could be a problem. She just seems to know too much for her own good."

'You'd think this idiot would be more careful about talking out loud.' Ranma thought before a frown settled upon her lips. It sounded like they were attempting to plot something against her, and Ranma was curious about it all.

"But master, knocking her off of a railing wouldn't work because she could fly." Quirrell stated back with a face scrunched up in thought. "That would be hard to do as well. She's just too weird and freakish for normal means." That comment caused Ranma's eyes to narrow. Quirrell's mouth broke into a smirk. "True, that's something that could work really well on someone as beastly as her."

Ranma's fists clenched and almost caused her fingernails to dig into her palms. Was she just going to stand there and allow him to plot peoples' downfalls and talk about her behind her back? Before she could stop herself, a growl had escaped from her and alerted the turban-wearing man that there was something in the room with him. Quirrell cautiously pulled out his wand and scanned the room for any signs of a possible intruder. Seeing as how she probably wasn't going to find out anything else from the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher now, Ranma decided to go, although she didn't really want to leave without a little going away present. Raising her hand with her palm facing upwards, Ranma cast the lighting spell and creating a small ball of light that seemingly hovered in the air.

"W-- what's that?" Quirrell suddenly asked with a little nervousness behind his voice. Without answering, the small white ball seemed to slowly float towards the man until it was a few inches from his face. Quirrell was at a complete loss of what to do, and that was fine by Ranma. Upon willing it, the ball exploded into a sea of blinding light that caused Quirrell's eyes to sear with pain. "GAAAAAHH!!!" He shouted as he stumbled backwards. Ranma took that as her cue to leave the room before anybody came. She did, however, take one last look and watched as Quirrell rubbed his eyes and cursed about lights and his eyes.

'Well that made me feel better.' Ranma thought as she walked through the door. She had to jump out of the way because of the caretaker -- Mr. Filch -- almost plowing her down to open door. 'Jeez, that was close. He almost ran into me.' Ranma watched as Filch mentioned about how he was walking by and heard Quirrell's scream.

"It must have been that wretched Peeves!" Filch shouted with a clenched fist after learning of the floating orb of light. He wasn't sure how, but he was certain that it was most likely the apparition's fault. "If only I could get my hands on him!"

Feeling as if it would be a good time to leave, Ranma silently made her way away from the scene and started heading down the floors. It was only a few moments before Ranma felt the need to use the restroom. Since she was now on the second floor, she figured that a meeting with Moaning Myrtle was inevitable. Sure, she would sob and get uppity -- sometimes due to a little foot in mouth from the redhead, -- but the ghost wasn't really as bad as most said. If you could get past the constant wailing, that is. In fact, Ranma's ears were picking up the telltale sounds of whining at that very moment. 'Wonder what it is about this time.' Ranma thought with a slight frown as she entered into the restroom.

"Aww, poor widdle Moaning Myrtle." Ranma groaned inwardly when she heard the voice of Peeves. She then saw the poltergeist floating upside down and holding the door open to one of the stalls to taunt the ghost girl in the stall. "Always stuck in the restroom weeping your eyes out." Peeves proceeded to give off an evil little cackle. Myrtle's wailings only proceeded to get louder.

Sighing to herself, Ranma walked a little ways towards the two and stopped. The invisibility cloak was still wrapped around her as she glanced between the poltergeist and the sobbing and moaning ghost. An invisible smirk played across her lips as she decided to intervene. "So the freak likes to pester you as well, eh?" The two spiritual beings stopped what they were doing and glanced around. Myrtle wasn't sobbing or moaning anymore, but she was sniffling a little.

"How dare you, whoever you are, interrupt my late-night fun?" Peeves asked in annoyance as he attempted to locate the one who interrupted him. The voice sounded familiar, but he couldn't place it.

The voice ignored the poltergeist, and both specters were aware that the voice was directed towards Myrtle. "Would you like me to do something about him?"

"S-- sure." Myrtle replied with a little unease. She may have been a ghost, but even ghosts were a little unnerved to be spoken to by an unknown disembodied and invisible voice.

Peeves chuckled a little bit. "Whoever you are, what do you plan on do-- HEY!" The poltergeist soon found his nose grabbed by a hand. He then watched as Ranma lowered the cloak and gave him a catty smirk before turning him around, letting go of his nose, and giving him a swift kick -- charged with some electrical magic -- in the rear towards the door. "STAY OUT OF THE GIRLS' LOO, YA FREAK!" As Peeves made several curses on his trip through the door, Ranma clapped her hands together as if she was dusting them off. Turning around, Ranma was about to say something to Myrtle when she stopped. The bespectacled ghost had a fist to her mouth and was making several inaudible sounds as her body shook. After a moment, the inaudible sounds turned into giggles. Those giggles then turned into loud laughter. Ranma watched in silence as Myrtle floated on her back while figuratively laughing her ass off.

"Stay -- ha-ha -- out of the -- hee -- girls' loo!" Myrtle managed out through her laughter. "You just called -- ha-ha -- Peeves a troublemaking freak and -- ha -- kicked him out by the bum!" Ranma could only watch as the usually sad and distraught ghost girl let out her laughter. After what seemed like an eternity, Myrtle's roaring laughter lowered to small giggles before subsiding. "I haven't laughed like that in _**YEARS**_." She said after a moment of silence. "I have to thank you for that, Lina." The ghostly girl remembered the name from the last time they met a few months ago.

"You've been wallowing in self pity that long?" Ranma blurted out. This caused Myrtle to give her a small glare. "What, I'm only asking a simple question!" Ranma said as she waved her arms a little and cursed her foot-in-mouth issue. "I mean, jeez, without all that moaning, whining, and wailing, you're kind of cute." After saying that, Ranma internally grimaced, 'Where the hell did that come from?'

Myrtle's attention was soon fully onto the redheaded cat-girl. "Cute?" She asked in disbelief. "There is no way that poor _**MOANING**_ Myrtle can be cute. If I was, nobody would have teased me when I was _**ALIVE**_." That thought caused Myrtle to fall into her usual moaning and sobbing.

"Aw c'mon, damn it. That was years ago when you were around all the snot-nosed brats who were in your year, right?" Myrtle gave a slow nod. "And you still have to deal with it from even more snot-nosed brats, right?" There was another nod. "They are just snot-nosed brats who don't have any clue at all. I also meant what I said a moment ago. You _**ARE **_cute." Ranma couldn't believe she was saying this, and hoped nothing bad would come of it. "I mean, those glasses frame your face nicely, and your hair looks good in pigtails." Ranma quickly pointed a finger. "You also have cute eyes."

Myrtle gave a small sniff. "You really mean that?"

"Of course!" Ranma answered back with a smile. "Don't listen to all the brats around here when they start spouting stuff about you." A smirk appeared on the redhead's lips. "If anybody really does start giving you a hard time, just tell me. I'll gladly give them a swift kick in the bum like I did to Peeves."

That caused Myrtle to bust out giggling at the memory. After she stopped giggling, Myrtle floated in front of Ranma and grabbed hold of the cat-girl's hand. Well, it was more like holding the ghostly hands near hers. "You know what? I like you. Nobody's ever been so kind to me before! You are most welcomed in my restroom anytime."

Ranma scratched the back of her head. "Thanks," she said simply. After a moment, she gave a small cough. "I, uh, need to use the restroom now."

"Oh, sorry about that!" Myrtle announced as she floated back to allow Ranma to enter one of the stalls. A second later, Myrtle floated up to the stall and phased her head through the door. "Say Lina, do you--"

"MYRTLE!" One could tell that there was a little embarrassment in Ranma's voice.

"Oops!" Myrtle stated with a hand near her cheek. One could tell, however, that the ghost wasn't the least bit ashamed of causing the redhead embarrassment. She then gave a giggle at how red Ranma's face had become. "The expression upon your face was just so adorable!" Myrtle commented to Ranma as the cat-girl exited the stall. The ghost then gave a small playful wink. This caused Ranma to sweat-drop at the ghost girl's antics.

'She can be really weird when she's happy.' Ranma thought to herself as she said a goodbye to Myrtle and tossed the invisibility cloak around her. She was starting to feel tired, and figured that heading to bed would be a good option for right now. 'I wonder what happened to Harry and Hermione since they forgot the invisibility cloak.' Ranma wondered as she exited the restroom and almost running into Dumbledore. 'Crap, what's he doing here?' She asked herself as she stood still and attempted to make no sound. When those eyes hidden behind half-moon spectacles glanced her way, the redhead was about ready to teleport away from the area incase the elderly wizard chose to check her position.

Dumbledore didn't say a word. All the elderly wizard did was glance in Ranma's direction for what seemed like an eternity before he diverted his eyes and started walking away. As soon as Dumbledore vanished from sight, Ranma let out a small sigh of relief. She was almost caught, and she didn't know what Dumbledore would do if he was the one who caught her. After a moment, Ranma slapped herself in the side of the head. 'I could have just phased away instead of stand there like an idiot.' Grumbling about forgetting important abilities, Ranma decided to just head on to bed and give the invisibility cloak back to Harry later on. 'I wonder whatever happened to Draco.' She thought before teleporting to the Slytherin common room. This was completed a second before the entrance to Slytherin was opened and allowed Draco to walk in. Ranma managed to hide the invisibility cloak before her brother noticed it. "I told you that you should have just stayed here."

Draco merely gave off that arrogant smirk that appeared on his face so many times. "It was worth it to see the look on Potter's face when McGonagall docked fifty points each from the Gryffindors because she believed that the whole dragon thing was a cock-and-bull story to get _**ME**_ in trouble." The blond-haired boy finished with a chuckle.

"So Gryffindor is 100 points less? That's got to be a big blow to their morale." Ranma responded as she scratched the back of her head while yawning.

"150 points, sis." If possible, Draco's smirk became even smugger. At Ranma's puzzled look, he elaborated. "Longbottom was there as well. He wanted to try and warn Potter and Granger that I was going to try and get them in trouble." He rolled his pale eyes. "A lot of good that did, but it was hilarious to see Longbottom's reaction when he bought the story about the dragon being false, all part of a plot to get me in trouble for being out of bed!" Draco started to walk past the cat-girl. "It was worth getting caught." He added before bidding Ranma goodnight and making his way towards the dorms.

Ranma stood there and thought about the possible implications of Gryffindor being 150 points less, and what else could happen when they learnt that Harry had a part in it. After thinking about it, Ranma decided that she was glad she wasn't in his shoes. "At least I'm not the one with a whole bunch of people mad at me this time." She said with a shake of her head before the idea of going to sleep grabbed hold of her mind.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Well, well, well," Xellos stated before giving off a chuckle as he looked down upon the structure before him. From the outside, the building looked old and worn, but it was obvious that the look was just a cover. There was sign above the entrance which read Beauxbatons School of Magic. "So this is where her reincarnation is. I do wonder if she's still high-strung." Without another word, Xellos disappeared from his place above the school and reappeared within a bedroom chamber. Taking in the sight before him, the purple-haired Mazoku noticed that the room consisted of six large and comfy beds with blue covering. From the look of the sleeping individuals, it was apparent that Xellos was currently standing in the girls' dorm.

It was a fact that Xellos didn't care about as his eyes moved from one bed to the other. Finally, his eyes rested on a girl of around 14 with long blonde hair. Her ears also appeared to have slight points to them. She was sleeping comfortably with her blankets slightly tossed around her as a bit of drool trailed from her mouth. Any normal person would have refrained from trying to wake someone like that up. Sadly for this sleeping girl, Xellos wasn't normal, nor was he really a person.

Without even a sound, Xellos made his way towards the bed until he was floating right over it. He then reached out with a gloved hand and poked the sleeping girl in the nose. The only response from the girl was her moving her arm a little as her nose twitched. Xellos did it again, and this time the girl gave off a few inaudible mumbles. He then took his fingers and gave her a very hard flick against the forehead. "Ow!" The girl shouted as she opened her eyes and used her hand to rub the spot where she was attacked. It took a couple moments for her eyes -- deep blue with a slight slit to the pupil -- to adjust to the dark. When they finally did, she saw a smiling Xellos floating above her. Eyes wide in shock, she prepared to give off a shout. "Who are--" She soon found a gloved hand over her mouth with the stranger wagging a finger.

"Ah, we can't have any of that." Xellos chided softly to the young girl. "I just wanted to meet with you, Floresina." A thoughtful look appeared on the purple-haired priest's visage. "Or should I go and call you Filia?" The blonde girl's eyes looked at him in confusion before they started to blink as if some kind of realization came to her. This was drowned out, however, by another confused look. "Ah, I see you might be getting a few images in your mind of something you don't understand. That seems to be something that's happening to people a lot these days." After a second, he gave a small shrug. "Well, I think it's time I get a move on. Do try not to shout, little Filia." He then moved his gloved hand away from the girl's mouth.

"Who in the h--" Her mouth was covered again.

"My, you'd think that those who are part dragon would have more sense than their… more challenged full-blooded cousins." Floresina's eyes widened at that comment before something in her mind began to click. Reaching up, the blonde girl grabbed hold of Xellos's wrist, pulled it away, clenched her other fist, and proceeded to send the fist forward and connect it to the Mazoku's face. This rocketed him away, and before he could hit the wall, he vanished. "Still such a brute as ever, I see." Xellos voice softly around the room before every trace of the Mazoku vanished.

"Damn you Xellos!" Floresina shouted as a golden tail shot out from a special patched area on her pajamas. She didn't know how she knew that name, but she didn't care.

"Floresina," a voice said from the blonde's right. Looking in that direction, Floresina noted the girl who was rubbing her eyes. She had cyan-blue hair and dark blue eyes, and her clothing consisted of expensive silks. "Can you please shut up? I was in the middle of a good dream."

Floresina raised an eyebrow. "It wouldn't happen to be another one of those dreams that involve your imaginary friend, would it, Mika?"

The now named Mika gave the other girl a glare. "Zoamelgustar is _**NOT**_ imaginary. He is the greatest of the gods, and none can ever hope to compete with the magnificent and cunning Zoamelgustar!" The two glared at each other for a moment before turning their heads and lying back down to go to sleep.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma yawned as she made her way towards the Great Hall for breakfast. She honestly didn't want to get up because she was feeling a little dead on her feet. Ranma figured that it was probably because she didn't get to sleep until well after 2AM. She hated not getting enough sleep, but she hated the thought of missing a meal as well. So, in retrospect, she was glad that Nashigi and Gosaria had woken her up, but they didn't have to scream in her ear.

Even in her sleep-deprived state, Ranma could make out the three hourglasses that showed the points for each house. This also allowed her to see the Gryffindor hourglass, which, just as Draco had mentioned, was 150 points less. Her dual-colored eyes had also noted all of the students who wore shocked expressions as they glanced at the hourglasses. Some even did double-takes, and a few did triple-takes to make sure it wasn't part of some sleep induced hallucination. When they were certain it wasn't some odd hallucination, people started to try and figure out what had happened. The answer came from an unknown source -- probably Draco -- that Harry Potter and two other Gryffindors lost all those points in one go. Needless-to-say, nobody was the least bit pleased.

"Do you think this will turn out bad?" Gosaria asked as the three sat down at their table. "I mean, they're just points, right?"

"Well, the Gryffindors were hoping to finally beat Slytherin in the House Points this year." Nashigi answered with her arms crossed. "Hell, even Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were rooting for Gryffindor to finally trounce Slytherin. Because of this, there will probably be a lot of anger, and I bet it will all be directed at the Potter boy."

"But there were two other people as well." The blonde girl stated.

"Harry will be the easiest target." Ranma responded suddenly. "Everyone knows him, they all know that he was part of the reason the points were lost. Because he was there, he is the easiest to scapegoat, and since he's widely known in this school, it'll fall almost completely onto him." Ranma knew the experience very well. How could one not know when they had a previous life where one small issue of foot-in-mouth, or being in the wrong place at the wrong time where it looked worse than it was? Oh yeah, she knew it very well. Hell, she could almost still remember the pain from those arguments with Akane.

A deep silence brought Ranma out of her thoughts. Looking around, the cat-girl noticed that nobody was making a sound. The reason for this was because of Harry. The bespectacled boy had walked into the Great Hall, and everyone's attention was on him. The tension of it all was so thick that you would need a high-powered chainsaw to cut through it. Harry looked positively nervous as he made his way towards a seat at the Gryffindor table, and a few of those at said table seemed to scoot away from the boy. The only ones who didn't were Ron, Hermione, Neville, and a couple others.

As soon as Harry had sat down, the Great Hall was back to the noise of people talking. This time, however, the talk was about Harry as all the tables seemed to pick up the art of gossiping. Ranma's ears twitched as she listened to most of it.

"Now there's no hope of anybody beating Slytherin. Potter really blew it." A boy from Ravenclaw growled out.

"That stupid git," a girl from Hufflepuff started. "I wanted to see Slytherin lose."

"Stupid--"

"No hope--"

"Just because he had to show off--"

As she listened to all of the comments people were making, Ranma's eye had started to gain a slight twitch. The only ones to notice this were Nashigi and Gosaria, and the two decided to remain quiet in hopes that they didn't spark anything that could lead to pain. Well, Nashigi decided to remain completely quiet. Gosaria decided to open her mouth. "Lina, are you ok? Your eye seems to be a little twitchy." The blonde stated as she waved a hand in front of Ranma's face. "Hellooooo..."

Luckily for Gosaria, Ranma managed to calm down. This caused Nashigi to let loose a breath that she didn't know she was holding. The dark-haired older girl also silently cheered that a crisis was avoided, and proceeded to give a mental laugh of victory. She figured that everyone would get over this problem within the week. 'After-all, it's only a bunch of points.'

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Later that night, several long miles away at a wizardry school known as Durmstrang, a 14-year-old boy with platinum, light purple hair felt a sudden chill run down his spine as he sat up in his bed. He had no clue as to why he was having an odd feeling, but whatever it was, it couldn't be good. 'Maybe it's nothing.' He thought to himself with a yawn. He then noticed a small piece of paper lay upon his blanket. Curiosity getting to him, the young boy picked the sheet up and glanced at it.

"Zelgadis the Stone Freak." He read out loud. Near the bottom of the paper was a drawing of a purple-haired man sticking his tongue out and holding two fingers in a 'V' formation. After sitting there for a few seconds, his eyes began to narrow. "Xellos," he said in a low growl. He didn't understand why, but he knew the name, and the name made him angry.

"What's gone and got you in a bind, Zephiros?" A boy with long black hair asked from a few beds away. The raven-haired boy was nose-deep in some kind of book.

"I'm not exactly sure, Zeke." Zephiros responded as he tore up the note that was in his hands. "All I know is that it is something that is pissing me off, and I have a feeling of foreboding."

Zeke turned a page in his book. "Well, maybe it's just nothing. You could just be worrying about something that doesn't even exist."

"Yeah, maybe you're right." The light-haired man said after a moment of silence. "Say, what is that book about?"

"Swords," Zeke responded simply, "I actually found it in the library. No clue why a book on swords would be in a library devoted to magic." He flipped another page. "I'm actually interested in seeing if there is a way to magically create a sword so that it can fire blasts of magic."

"That sounds interesting." Zephiros stated as he stroked his chin in thought. The strange note that was on his bed was completely forgotten in favor of the sword idea. "What would you call it?"

"I'm thinking of the name Howling Sword."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Back at Hogwarts, the problem over the loss of points _**DID NOT**_ fade as the week progressed. Everyone had still seemed to completely blame Harry for the points lost. Students ignored him, talked about him, talked behind his back, and various other things that seemed to make matters worse. This also had the effect of Ranma gaining a twitch in her eye that seemed to randomly come and go. Her hands would also occasionally clench and unclench, along with the fact that the fur on her ears and tail seemed to constantly stand up in annoyance.

Ranma became even more agitated when she learned how much the whole ordeal was also affecting Hermione. Her friend wasn't talked about as much as Harry was, but everyone was also ignoring her. Hell, the girl also seemed to stop raising her hand in class to answer questions, and preferred to keep quiet. That just wasn't like Hermione. Neville was also having a similar problem as well. After a few days of this, Ranma had finally had enough of it.

Four days after the loss of Gryffindor's 150 points, Ranma was quietly eating lunch and trying to drown out the constant gossip about Harry that had been going on for the past few days. She had managed to drown most of it out, but would occasionally hear bits and pieces. It was then that she heard a couple comments between a boy at the Hufflepuff table, and a girl at the Ravenclaw table.

"If it wasn't for 'the great' Potter, Slytherin would have lost. Now there's no chance of them being beaten."

"Yeah, and you'd think Slytherin winning seven years in a row would be enough. I thought this would be a great year, but Potter had to go and mess up."

A resounding 'thunk' was then heard throughout the Great Hall. The sound was loud enough that everyone -- regardless of the talking -- heard it, and they all turned towards the source. The source of the noise was Ranma. The cause of it was obviously the fork that was wedged deep into the wooden table with her hand clenched around the handle. Her head was lowered, but when she raised it up, everyone could see that her eyes began to glow the strange and eerie crimson that usually happened when she was pissed off. They all watched in silence as Ranma hopped up and stood on the bench she was sitting on. Her left foot was positioned on the table in front of her as the fork that was wedged into the table was held in her outstretched hand and pointed towards them.

"How about you all shut the hell up?" She asked in an icy tone that caused everyone -- even Dumbledore -- to shiver. "I don't give a damn about points, and I sure as hell don't give a damn about the so called house cup. All I can say is that you all should just go jump off a cliff and drown somewhere." Nobody said a word. It was almost like they could only sit, watch, and listen. "You people are just a bunch of lazy bastards who are too stupid to figure out anything on your own."

"Hey, how dare you say that to us?!" An older Ravenclaw demanded. He soon found a fork wedged deep into the wooden table right in front of him, centimeters from hitting him.

"I dare because it is obvious." Ranma responded with a growl. "You all want points to win? Well how about you get off your lazy asses and accomplish it? Oh, wait, I forgot," she said with a slight chuckle, "you want it done by other people because you lack the ability to do it yourself. Potter and a couple of others may have lost those points, but I'm sure they could be gained back if you tried." The cat-girl's ears twitched as she closed her eyes. "Then again, maybe Slytherin _**DESERVES **_to win. I mean, they seem to be able to get the job done -- even though many are self-absorbed and back-stabbing gits." There were a few glares directed towards her. "Still, they know how to go about things, unlike you idiots." After a momentary glare, Ranma's eyes changed back into her normal dual-color. Upon glancing around, she reached up and scratched the back of her head. "I lost control a little, didn't I?" She asked with a nervous chuckle at all the stares.

The sound of someone clearing their throat caused all heads to turn towards the staff table. Dumbledore stood up and was looking directly at Ranma. "First of all, Miss Malfoy," he began with an amused twinkle in his eye, "might I suggest lowering your leg off of the table and sitting down? You might be giving a few people an unwanted show of under your skirt." Ranma glanced at him, and then glanced around the Great Hall for a moment as she blinked. After a moment, her face turned a small shade of red before she quickly sat down.

"That could explain why I was feeling a slight draft." She mumbled. However, since the room was deathly silent, most people heard it. This caused multiple sweat-drops, and some older students had to hold their noses.

Dumbledore ignored the comment as he continued on, this time with a more serious look. "About your sudden outburst, Miss Malfoy," he gave a small pause, "I believe that it warrants a subtraction of about 30 points. I would like to talk with you after lunch is over with."

Ranma could only give a nod in response.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma gave Fawkes the phoenix a pat on the head as she sat in a seat in Dumbledore's office. The elderly wizard figured that his office would be the best place to talk so they wouldn't be disturbed. As soon as the cat-girl entered and sat down, Fawkes hopped off its perch and onto the floor next to her and gave her a nudge on the arm. The fact that a phoenix liked her, when two other beings/things/whatever that had phoenix in their name didn't, was still something that caused her to think.

"Would you care for a lemon drop, Ranma?" Dumbledore asked as he pushed a small bowl of them forward. Just by the fact that he was using that name, Ranma could tell that the man wanted to be serious for the moment. Still, it was somewhat ruined by the whole 'lemon drop' thing.

Ranma shook her head. "No thank you, Dumbledore." Ranma decided to return the favor by acting civil as well. "This is probably about my outburst in the Great Hall, isn't it?" The elderly wizard ahead of her merely gave a smile and a nod. "I wasn't planning on doing that, but you have to admit, someone had to say something to them." There was a long silence that followed.

"That," Dumbledore finally began, "I will give you." He said as he leaned back in his chair. "And for such a display of putting a little sense into their heads, it would only make sense that 10 points could go to Slytherin. I also wonder if your show will actually entice the students to try and work for the trophy instead of attempting to rely on a few individuals."

"I think I have an idea, Dumbledore." Ranma said with a smile. At the headmaster's nod, she continued. "Why not have it so that if a teacher sees someone giving helpful advice or anything similar, they could add some points right there? I mean, aren't points supposed to be rewarded for doing _**GOOD**_?"

I'm sure we can find a better way with the whole point system. I do have to confess that the system is rather disjointed and odd. Maybe by your idea, there would be a higher sense of camaraderie among the students." A deep sigh came from the aged wizard. "I figured that the school wouldn't like it when they learned of the drop in points, but I never thought it would turn out like it has. I guess we all have too high of expectations sometimes." He finished softly

"Well, most are just snot-nosed little kids." Ranma interjected with a smirk.

"Isn't that, as the muggle saying goes, the pot calling the kettle black, Ranma?" The headmaster of Hogwarts asked with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Hey," Ranma said with a frown as she crossed her arms, "I'm not a little kid. I'm practically 28-years-old!" Just because she had the body of a kid, didn't mean she was one. "Well, maybe older if you take other things into account."

A soft chuckle escaped from Dumbledore's lips. "And yet you still have a child-like mind at times." Ranma gave off a small pout in indignation. "But I digress," Dumbledore began as he leaned forward gave the redhead a piercing look. "You may have had good intentions, but you still caused a disturbance through your anger; which, I might add, is something you were supposed to work on."

"But I _**HAVE**_ been working on it. My temper isn't as unstable as before; but I guess it could be a little better. My glowing red eyes still probably spook the hell out of people when they see them though." The last part was added in a whisper, but the man in front of her still heard it.

Ignoring the amusing scenario of the thought, Dumbledore continued. "You have, and I will agree that have also come a long way with your temper. Still, you need to face the fact that you did cause a disturbance."

"Alright," Ranma said with a hand to her forehead, "Just tell me what my punishment is so I can get it over with."

The elderly wizard gave her a nod. "I think that having you help a teacher for the next couple of weeks from 7PM to midnight would be a proper punishment."

"Right, so which teacher will I help?" Ranma asked with a sigh.

"I'm thinking that Professor Quirrell might be--" He was interrupted when Ranma instantly stood up.

"What?!" When she realized that she yelled, she mumbled an apology and sat back down. "Sorry Dumbledore, but I have some odd suspicions about Quirrell. That turban keeps giving off a weird feeling to it, and he generally makes me feel uneasy whenever I'm around him. It also seems as if he gives off a smell of unicorn blood." Ranma watched as the silver-haired man gave her a look as he began to stroke his long beard. "It also doesn't help matters that Quirrell was talking about getting rid of people several nights ago after midnight."

"And how would you know of this?" Dumbledore asked with a raised eyebrow.

Ranma's face turned a small shade of pink as she rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, a few nights ago when Harry and Hermione were up at the Astronomy tower, I was already there. You see, I usually lay up there at nights and watch the sky. It usually serves as a kind of meditative state and allows me to relax."

"Go on"

"Right, well, after they both left, and ended up getting busted, I waited a few moments before making my way down myself. On the trip, my ears," Ranma twitched her higher appendages, "heard someone talking in a kind of excited way. My curiosity got the better of me, and I ended up listening in on Quirrell. I don't know if he was using some kind of telepathy or something, but he was talking to someone he called 'master'. He was also discussing plans regarding Harry. The discussion was something about attempting to make it look like an accident, but Quirrell also said that that they might need Harry for something. I'm not sure of any other details, because they started to talk about me. They mentioned about how I was a nuisance, but after Quirrell outright said that I was freakish, weird, and beastly…" She trailed off with a nervous chuckle.

"I heard Professor Quirrell mention something about a blinding light attacking him several nights ago. I take it that it was you who did it." Ranma's silence was all that he needed. "I've had some suspicions about Quirrell since he came back from his trip before the school year began." The elderly wizard stated as he sat back and began stroking his beard.

"Then why haven't you done anything yet?"

"The proof is lacking, Ranma. I can't exactly do anything until something leads back to him. It's not something you should worry about, though. Everything is completely under control. Now, I believe that I've held you up from your classes enough as it is. You are excused, and remember to also try and keep your temper in check."

Ranma nodded and stood up from her seat. As she was walking towards the door, she glanced back. "I still think you should do something. If he ends up doing whatever he's trying to do and takes over the wizarding world in a crazy megalomaniacal act, I am so going to kick your ass, old fart."

"Promise of harm to my posterior noted, Lina." Dumbledore responded with amusement dancing behind his half-moon spectacles. As the redhead made her way out the door, the elderly wizard shook his head. "You have nothing to worry about."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

If it would have been somebody else, she wouldn't have had a problem with it. Hell, even Snape was tolerable in a way. He may have acted like he had a perpetual stick up the ass, but he didn't give her the 'fight or flight' feeling that Quirrell did. The turban-wearing stutter machine acted as if being around her wasn't a problem, but Ranma could sense the man's heart beating at a faster pace. All she had to do for the terribly long five hours she was there was help organize and clean things in his room. There were a few instances where she would swear that Quirrell was trying to kill her or something. Ranma felt that she couldn't really keep her back facing him, so she started to bring Laira to act as a lookout.

By the end of the second week, Ranma was feeling the need to strangle Quirrell for his annoying stuttering. There was just so much that one person could take of it, and she was sure that she was nearing the breaking point of keeping her calm around the suspicious teacher. She was really hoping that he would make a move of some kind, or at least something that wouldn't prove boring.

Her answer came the following day when she had stopped at Quirrell's office at 7PM. The jittery professor explained to her that their session wouldn't happen tonight. When Ranma had asked how come, Quirrel had told her that he had something important to do, and that her being around him would only bother him. Ranma nodded to that and walked away, only to go into hiding to watch him.

'He told me the same thing last week, and both times he's been more nervous than usual.' Ranma thought with narrowed eyes. 'I don't care what it is. I'm going to find out what he's doing.' Her eyes seemed to glow in the darkness as she watched to see if Quirrell was going to leave the room. Her patience was rewarded when the door opened and a cloaked figure poked its head out to see if anyone was around. Apparently not seeing anybody, he walked out and started down the hallway. Ranma followed him closely, but also at a safe enough distance within the shadows so she wouldn't be figured out. This proved to be beneficial as Quirrell looked back a few times.

Ranma continued to follow after the cloaked individual until they left the castle and headed towards the Forbidden Forest. As soon as she entered the forest, Ranma lost sight of Quirrell, but she still was still able to follow the scent. 'Why would he come here?' Ranma asked as she continued to keep to the darkest of areas. Even though the forest was as dark as it was, the possibility of her being seen was still high. A rustling in the bushes to Ranma's left put her on high alert. The bushes soon parted, and out came a rather ugly humanoid creature with long shaggy hair, bulging eyes, fangs, and sharp claws. 'Why do I always get into things like this?' Ranma asked herself in annoyance.

The thing -- Ranma decided that it must have been an ogre -- noticed the redhead crouching down in a ready stance and growled. The growl could have been compared to gargling water with rocks mixed in. It probably thought it had an easy meal of some kind, because it started to reach back with a clawed hand. A second later, it lunged at Ranma in an attempt to grab her head. Jumping out of the way and onto the tree, Ranma called forth her energy sword and positioned the edge against the area between the ogre's bulging eyes. The sudden sight of a glowing sword caused the creature to fully pause, and when it saw the red eyes of its so-called prey glowing eerily in the dark, it felt a little nervous.

"Go on and get out of here." Ranma finally said to the creature. Her voice had a cold edge to it. She was hoping that the ogre would just go about its merry way as. This hope was dashed to pieces when the creature -- in a moment of speed that seemed impossible for something so large -- stepped to the side and lunged for Ranma again. The cat-girl leapt off of the side of the tree and over the ogre as it crashed headfirst into the bark of the tree. This disoriented the ogre enough for Ranma to get in front of it and place her hand on its forehead. "Sleep!" She shouted as she pumped a sleep spell onto the creature. Its eyelids drooped shut just before it fell onto the ground with a loud crash. With one last look at the snoring ogre, Ranma shook her head and started walking off. "Stupid thing that attacked me for no reason. I never even knew there were ogres in this forest."

A larger rustling in the bushes caused the redhead to look. Her eyes widened considerably at the sight of a small group of ogres. The group looked towards the downed ogre, towards Ranma, back to the ogre, and then back to Ranma again. Then, as one, they gave off a loud roar before charging at Ranma.

'Well doesn't this just figure?'

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Damn it, what the hell is with this forest tonight?!" Ranma yelled as she stopped stepping on a whimpering and scorched werewolf that decided to attack her like everything else. Looking behind Ranma, one could see a path that was practically littered with the unconscious forms of dozens of forest beasts. It was almost three hours since she had entered the forest, and she was getting tired of everything jumping out at her. The next rustling in the bushes she heard would be eating a Mouko Takabisha. "I should have just stayed at the castle so I could crawl into my nice bed."

A sound in the bushes next to her caused her eye to develop a slight twitch. "That's it," Ranma stated softly before firing a ki blast into the brush. After the small explosion Ranma walked up and pulled apart the foliage. What she saw inside caused her to blink. "Huh, I thought he was somewhere else by now, or better yet, dead." Reaching into the center, Ranma pulled her arm back to reveal a scorched and unconscious Happosai. The aged pervert also seemed to pale, sickly, and jittery.

"Panties… need… panties…" The diminutive man said weakly before falling fully into unconsciousness. Ranma briefly wondered if she should just leave him there, put him out of his misery, or rescue him. She finally decided to go with her martial artist's duty and help the poor gnome.

"You owe me for this." Ranma whispered as she took out a rope and tied up the diminutive pervert with it. 'Maybe I'll drop him off somewhere far away where he'll be away from me and can recover.' With a slight nod to the idea, Ranma created a doppelganger and handed the tied up Happosai to her other self. Her other self gave a quick nod before vanishing.

"Thank you for finding and getting rid of that wretched thing. He was making a mess of this forest and putting various creatures on edge." The voice came from behind Ranma. Said redhead turned around quickly to see who was talking to her. What she saw was a rather young Centaur with white-blond hair and blue eyes. The centaur gazed at her for a long moment before smiling. "Ah, you are Lina Malfoy -- The Terror of the Forest." His sapphire blue eyes swept around the path they were on. "My, your reputation does precede you."

Ranma puffed up in indignation. "Hey, they were the ones who attacked me first."

"Firenze," the centaur simply said. When Ranma looked at him curiously, he continued. "My name is Firenze." He held out hand in greeting.

"Nice to meet you, Firenze." Ranma accepted the handshake and smirked. "At least I won't have to be forced to kick your ass like everything else tonight." Her smirk soon vanished completely. "Firenze, have you seen a suspicious figure come through this forest wearing a cloak?"

A thoughtful look flashed crossed the centaurs face after Ranma asked. "You know, I do believe that I caught sight of someone run in that direction." Firenze motioned his arm into the position he was mentioning. Ranma gave him a thankful nod and proceeded in that direction. When she noticed that the centaur was following her, she gave a questioning glance. "I believe that you already know of the dangers in this forest, and are probably tired of painfully beating all of the creatures you come across into the dirt." A tinge of pink surfaced on Ranma's face. "Since you are now walking with me, most creatures will stay away from us. Centaurs have that kind of pull in this forest."

"I appreciate it, Firenze." The cat-girl held up a pair of fingers that were only millimeters apart. "I was this close to almost destroying this part of the forest." Her companion sweat-dropped and silently thanked the stars that he had appeared when he did. At least the girl beside him only knocked the creatures unconscious and didn't kill any of them.

Minutes after moving in the direction that Firenze had pointed out, Ranma's nose started to twitch as the stench of blood began to assault her nose. She began to realize that the blood wasn't just normal blood, but had a faint scent to it that she could never properly place. The only thing that she knew was that the smell of blood was coming from a unicorn close by. Signaling to Firenze that they should be quiet, Ranma quietly made her way over and glanced through the underbrush. The first thing she saw was a unicorn collapsed onto the ground with silvery blood leaking from its neck. "Wonder what could have happened to it." Firenze whispered from his spot next to Ranma. "Oh look, a couple young boys walking up to the area."

Just as the centaur had said, two boys -- Ranma was able to identify them as Harry and Draco -- entered the area and stood with shocked expressions on their faces. A rustling from a different set of bushes alerted the cat-girl to another presence in the area. She noted that it was the cloaked figure of Quirrell who came out into the open and seemed to glide over to the unicorn. Ranma noticed that even though the unicorn had lost a lot of blood, it was still alive, but barely if the look of the very slow movement of its chest was any indication. When the man in the cloak leaned down and started to drink blood from the creature's neck, Ranma's eyes flashed red in rage. In just under a few seconds -- in which time Draco screamed and ran off like a baby, -- Ranma charged out from her hiding place and sent a punch that connected to the side of the man's face and sent him flying into a nearby tree.

Ranma's attention then turned to the downed unicorn. Kneeling down next to it, Ranma started to cast a healing spell in hopes of saving the poor creature. "C'mon, don't die on me ya danged horned horse!" The cat-girl watched as the unicorn's eyes had a slight glazed look as it stared weakly at her. "You're going to live and not face the same fate that others probably had in having their blood sucked out by a…" Ranma's voice trailed off as the unicorn's breathing stopped, and its eyes closed to show that it fell into a permanent sleep. Ranma sat there and stared at the now dead creature. A growl rumbled from her chest as her fist began to clench. A shout of pain from Harry's direction caused the cat-girl's head to turn. She noted that the bespectacled boy was holding his scar as the cloaked figure glanced in his direction. Said cloaked figure attempted to reach for the boy with his left hand.

A scream of pain soon erupted from the cloaked figure's lips when his lower arm suddenly started to sport a series of deep claw marks. Harry watched as Ranma appeared in front and had one of those strange glowing swords aimed towards the head of the cloaked figure. In a quick motion, the person in the cloak turned and fled towards the underbrush. He had to halt when a white-blond haired centaur blocked his path. With a spin, the figure charged off between the trees to the side of the clearing.

"Damn it," Ranma cursed as she punched the tree next to her, "I should have stopped him." With a sigh, her eyes changed back to normal as she turned around to look at Harry. Her expression turned into a grin as she decided to lighten the mood. "Draco sure as hell wasn't of any help, was he? This could probably provide some interesting blackmail material."

"What are you doing out here?" Harry asked curiously. "Not that I'm complaining. I mean, you did save me back there." Ever since that day she had made that outburst in the Great Hall, his respect for her had risen up a few notches. There were still some problems with people not being able to forget about the point drop, but they didn't act as mean spirited as before. 'How can she be Draco's sister and be in Slytherin?' Harry watched as a centaur walked up next to them. He saw a couple others earlier, but this one seemed to be much younger.

"I saw that cloaked freak sneaking around and decided to follow after him." It was merely a half-lie. Ranma thought about saying Quirrell, but then Harry would argue that it must have been Snape or someone. "I followed him into the Forbidden Forest at a little after 7PM."

"You've been in this forest for over three hours?!" Harry asked incredulously.

"It wouldn't have been over three hours if I wasn't constantly attacked by ogres, werewolves, and various other creatures. Hell, I left a trail of unconscious creatures quite a ways back there. "After I met with Firenze here, I didn't have a problem with all the random creatures trying to pop up and attempting to either suck out my guts or chew on my bones." She finished with a point to the centaur next to them.

Harry glanced up at the half-horse/half-man and felt a little nervous when the creature's eyes stared right down at him. He still felt woozy from his scar hurting, and the stare wasn't helping any. "You're the potter boy." Firenze finally stated once he saw the scar. "It would be best if you got back to Hagrid. It is a dangerous time to be in the forest, especially for you." Harry nodded and suddenly found himself being held up by Ranma.

"C'mon, I'll help you. You seem to be a little out of it for some reason." Harry didn't say a word. He was just happy that whatever that was back there didn't get him. It also pissed him off that Draco and Fang both bolted and left him alone. The trio soon found a couple other centaurs. Both of the newcomers were older than Firenze, and they had a kind of air about them that made Ranma want to slug them.

The two nodded to Firenze before looking towards Harry. When their gaze stopped at Ranma, their eyes widened. "The Terror of the Forest," the black-haired one stated with a frown. Harry glanced confusedly between Ranma and the centaurs. "What are you doing in this forest?"

"I'm here to try and take over the forest and place you all into slavery as regular mules." Ranma answered with a straight face. At the panicked looks upon both centaurs, she rolled her eyes. "I'm just here because I want to be, geniuses. You honestly thought I was serious?"

"Don't you realize who this is, Ronan, Bane?" Firenze interrupted as he pointed to Harry. "This is the Potter boy. You know that he needs to get out of this forest. Besides, I'm sure that you have seen the Unicorn."

"Have you been telling him anything?" Bane snapped with narrowed eyes. "Don't you remember that we have sworn to not set ourselves against the heavens? Have we not read what the movements of the planets have foretold for the future--?"

"So you can predict things by watching the sky." Ranma interrupted with a rolling of her eyes. "If you know what's going to happen, then wouldn't it make a lot more sense to, I don't' know, tell people what you know? Do you think it will save you if it foretold that the world would end?"

"Why you little--" Bane was stopped in his actions by a motion from Ronan.

"Calm yourself, Bane. It would not do for a centaur to lose their cool, especially against a young child such as the one before us." A ghost of a smile appeared on Ronan's lips. "Besides, don't you remember the importance of her role from what the heavens told us?"

The other centaur calmed down. "Ah yes, such an importance indeed."

"Wait, are you telling me that you know stuff about me?" Ranma demanded as her eyes grew wide. Ronan and Bane kept silent before turning around and walking off. "Hey, come back here, you damn half-mu--" The cat-girl found a hand in front of her mouth. She glared at Firenze for stopping her from yelling at the two.

"Firenze, why was Bane so angry?" Harry asked curiously as the trio made their way through the forest. "And what was that thing from earlier?"

"Damn unicorn killing bastard, that's what." Ranma grumbled in annoyance as she thought about the creature she couldn't save.

The Centaur with them ignored the mumblings of the redhead. "Harry Potter, do you know what unicorn blood is used for?"

"No, we've only used the horn and tail hair in potions class."

"That's because unicorn blood is cursed." Harry glanced towards Ranma with a questioning eye and waited for her to continue. "A unicorn is a pure and innocent creature, and the only kind of person who would slay one is a cruel individual. It's bad enough to kill a unicorn, but to kill it so you can drink its blood is a different matter."

"What do you mean?"

"She means," Firenze responded, "That the blood of a unicorn will curse the individual for their cruel deed. A unicorn's blood will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death itself. However, to slay such an innocent creature just to stay alive will guarantee that the moment the blood touches your lips; you will be condemned to a half-life, a cursed life."

"But why would somebody be that desperate?" Harry asked as he stepped over a large root. "Wouldn't death be better than being cursed forever?" A smirk appeared on Ranma's lips at the question.

"It would," Firenze responded with a nod. "Unless that was all you needed until you drank something else-- something that would bring you back to full power and health-- something that will mean that you could never die. Do the both of you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment?"

"The Philosopher's Stone," Ranma stated before Harry could think. Internally, Ranma thought many times about finding the stone and just destroying it. The very thought of how many lives that were possibly put at risk just to create a portable item that could make you immortal was something that left a bitter taste in her mouth. There was a possibility that nobody experimented on people to create such a thing that would allow immortality. Still, the knowledge of it from Lina's memories of just how many people died for the sake of immortality was something that she didn't like.

"You mean," Harry asked in a voice that had a hint of nervousness behind it, "that was Volde--"

"Harry! Harry, are you alright?" The voice of Hermione yelled as said girl ran towards them. Hagrid was trying to keep up behind her. She then caught sight of Ranma and blinked. "Lina, what are you doing out here?"

"Harry's fine." Ranma responded, and Harry gave his voice of agreement. "And I'm here because I wanted to meet up with my friend Firenze." It was a blatant lie, but she didn't care. "I met him once before and we became quick friends. Right, Firenze?" The centaur hid a smirk as he nodded.

"The unicorn is back that way, Hagrid." Harry piped up with a point. "It's dead." Both Hagrid and Ranma's faces fell a little at the remark. The former because he was hoping it was just hurt, while the latter because she couldn't save the creature. Ranma's eyes then went wide as she just remembered something. She still had Harry's Invisibility cloak.

Feigning a yawn, the redhead cast a look at everyone. "Well, I think I should get going. I'm tired, and I want to get to sleep already so I don't feel dead tomorrow morning." With a wave, she vanished from the clearing.

"I wish I knew how she does that." Hermione stated as she stared at the spot that had Ranma a moment before.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Later that night when Harry was climbing into bed, he pulled back the covers and noticed that his invisibility cloak was folded with a note on top of it. Picking up the note, he began to read it.

'_I don't know how, but I forgot to return this to you. Well, I did decide that since you lost it that night, then I could be free to use it as much as I like. After-all, the saying does go 'finders keepers, losers weepers'. Still, I guess that since you would need this more than I do, then you can have it back. If you lose it again, however, I might be less inclined to return it. Seriously though, forgetting something as important as this on the Astronomy tower that night is just wrong on so many levels.'_

Harry glanced at the bottom of the note and saw that it said 'Lina' with a small drawing of the girl's head with her tongue out and her fingers in the 'peace' sign. There was also something else wrote at the bottom.

'_P.S: As for how much trouble I caused while using this cloak, well, that's a secret.'_

Harry just blinked as he read that last line. It also caused him to wonder exactly how much trouble the girl _**DID**_ cause with his cloak. 'That girl is just weird.' He thought as he laid down to go to sleep. He completely missed the fact that his sudden worry over Voldemort was washed away, and instead was filled by wonderings of just _**WHAT**_ trouble Ranma got into. 'I think I hate the phrase 'that's a secret.' He finally thought with a grumble before closing his eyes.

xxA.Nxx

After a slightly long but short break, I finally finished this chapter. Yay me!

'Book one' of this story _**SHOULD**_ include just one more chapter. That chapter will combine the trapdoor and confrontation chapters together.


	19. The Misadventures of Quirrellmort

Wild Magic

Ranma 1/2, Slayers, Harry Potter, and any other series used in this fanfic are owned by their respective creators/publishers/whatever

Thanks to CyberSkaarj and the people of Fukufics for pre-reading.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Chapter 19

A feeling of accomplishment welled its way up into Ranma's chest. She had made it! Miraculously made it through the whole school-year and just had the exams to go. Coming into the school, there were many times that she had wanted to just say 'screw it' and head home. Hell, there were also times when she had thought that she would face expulsion, and yet here she was. There were only about two weeks left in the school year before summer break, and Ranma was feeling most anxious to get out of the place for a while.

That wasn't the only thing the cat-girl was feeling anxious about, though. Ranma could sense the growing tension in the air as she entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts class for her exam. The 12-year-old -- her birthday, along with Draco's, was earlier that month on the 5th -- sent a glance towards the turbaned professor who was standing at the head of the class. Likewise, Quirrell gave her a quick look that would have melted steel if it was possible. After the event in the forest a while back, Quirrell was now aware that Ranma knew what he was up to. This had eventually led to quite a few small 'accidents' that ended up being blamed on Peeves. The poltergeist would vehemently deny being responsible due to most of them not being entertaining. He did, however, mention that causing the chandelier in the entrance to drop was amusing and wished he could applaud whoever had done it.

Glancing down at her exam paper, Ranma examined it to make sure that there was no dangerous hex on it that would cause her ears to turn polka-dot, or maybe her skin to melt into goo. Learning that the only spell placed on the text was an anti-cheating spell -- Ranma wondered slightly how it could tell if one were cheating, -- she got to work on filling out the questions. Most of them were multiple choice questions that asked about such things as how you would stop a vampire. There were also a few true/false questions, how to identify the affects of the work of dark magic, and a quick two paragraph essay on trolls. There were a few that stumped her, but most of the questions were relatively easy. It would have been better if they had a hands-on test with some kind of creature, and it would have been nice if Prof. Quirrell didn't glare in her direction every four minutes and cause her hair to stand on end.

Next up was the History of Magic final exam. Just like with the Defense Against the Dark Arts final, it was composed of a series of questions that ranged from stating how the great wizard Merlin defeated the witch Mad Madame Mim for the first time, to the man who created the first self-stirring cauldron.. Thanks to her inability to sleep in the class, Ranma managed to fly through it. After finishing and glancing around, Ranma noticed that a vast majority were struggling and racking their brains trying to figure out questions to things that they slept or stared off into space for. If she didn't know any better, she could have sworn that Gosaria's ears were pouring out a trace of smoke.

For the Transfiguration class, they had to take a mouse and turn it into a snuffbox. Points would be taken off if the transformed snuffbox had any fur, tail, or whiskers. When Ranma received the mouse she was going to transform, Prof. McGonagall stated that the cat-girl _**MUST**_ use her wand. They didn't need any backlash from using wandless magic for such a small thing. Rolling her eyes at the extra caution that the teacher was using so she wouldn't blow something up, Ranma raised her wand and brought it down to the nervous little mouse. A flash of purple light flew out of the wand and hit the rodent, and Ranma watched -- with a slight wince -- as the mouse began to slowly lose everything that defined it as a mouse and animal. It lasted about three seconds, and the result was a perfectly shaped snuffbox with no fur or animal features.

"It's a perfectly good snuffbox, Miss Malfoy." Prof. McGonagall stated as she studied the tiny rectangular box. A slight smile tugged on the corner of the woman's lips. "I must say that the design is quite superb as well." On the cover of the snuffbox was a circle, and in the center of the circle was a white-colored kitten lying on its back and playing with a red yarn ball. The kitten also had string wrapped around it from the ball. Off to the side, there were two other kittens play-fighting with one tugging on the ears of the other. The color of the box itself was an emerald green color with gold boarder. Around the sides of the box was a repeating black paw silhouette. "See what you can accomplish when you cease fooling around with wandless magic?"

Ranma waved a hand dismissively. "I'll practice with it and become more proficient without a wand by my return next year." The older woman nearly dropped the snuffbox in her hands after hearing that. "Say, are you going to turn that back into a mouse?" Ranma asked curiously. The thought of transforming a small creature into an inanimate object where it was cut off from the world caused a shiver to go down her spine.

"There is no need to worry, Miss Malfoy. I will be turning the mice back to normal at the end of the day after the exams." She received a nod from Ranma as she dismissed the cat-girl from her classroom so that she could bring in another student taking the exam. It was almost a shame to transform such lovely containers back into the annoying rodents that they originally were.

During her next exam, Ranma found herself frowning down at her cauldron as she stirred her potion. They were supposed to be brewing a Forgetfulness Potion, a dark colored potion that causes the drinker to forget certain things. The process seemed to be going fine, the smell was apparently how it should be, there was no explosion of some kind, and her cauldron didn't melt. The problem that she had was that it was -- as pointed out by Snape -- a couple shades lighter than it should be. Ranma attributed this 'issue' to the fact that the greasy-haired potions master would peer right over her shoulder as she mixed and brewed. It was more than annoying, and she felt like telling him to 'get his pale ass away'. That, however, would get her into a heap of trouble, and she would prefer to make it the rest of the month without another detention of some kind. And so, the redheaded cat-girl reigned in her desire to snap out at the overbearing teacher and completed her potion in silence. She then filled a vial of her supposed Forgetfulness Potion and handed it in to Snape -- who stared at it with an almost bored look on his pale face.

"Thank you, Miss Malfoy," he drawled out in a low voice so nobody else could hear, "but I think it is a few shades lighter than it should be. The results of how well it works, however, will be determined at a later time. It will be then that I will see if you did it properly." Ranma's lip twitched slightly before she nodded and went back to her cauldron to clean up and wait for the exam to end.

The final exam that Ranma had was for Charms class. They were called into the class one by one, and the assignment for them to accomplish was to make a pineapple tap dance across the desk. When it came Ranma's turn, she was informed, yet again, to use her wand and try to not cause any destruction of some kind. The fact that everyone kept on assuming that she would blow something up just because she wasn't using a wand had the effect of pissing her off. Her heated emotions were what caused her to use a little too much magic in her spell. Ranma did, however, get the desired effect of a pineapple tap-dancing.

"That was some wonderful tap dancing!" Flitwick announced as he clapped his hands at the tap dancing fruit. "I wasn't expecting it to grow small legs and arms, though. Still, you did make it tap dance, good job!"

Ranma had to give a little smile. She was sure that something crazy was going to happen due to putting too much magic into the spell, but since she wasn't covered in fruit juice, it was all clear. "Thank you, Prof. Flitwick. I--" Ranma trailed off as she and Flitwick watched as the pineapple jumped off the desk, this was followed by the whole stack of pineapples that suddenly grew legs of their own. The army of pineapples then charged out the door. The two in the room were treated to the sounds of a few people shouting in complete shock and fright. Giving each other a look, Ranma and Flitwick ran to the entrance of the room and watched as pineapples ran amok.

"Get those pineapples!" Flitwick shouted with a squeak. "They are needed for the exam!" And with that statement, the greatest and only pineapple chase in Hogwarts history had began. The legged fruits seemed to be craftier than they were given credit for as they escaped capture. It almost seemed as if they were multiplying, and it was confirmed by a house elf that the pineapples in the kitchens had also sprouted legs and run away. Everywhere they looked, the produce seemed to just be there. Some ran up and down stairs, some slid down railings, and there were others that used ink to draw on the walls. Soon, the pineapples seemed to disappear altogether, and nobody knew where they went. It was then, however, that the sound of banging drums was heard throughout the school. The sound was coming from the entrance hall, and so everyone rushed to the scene. When they got there, Ranma put a hand to her face.

There were a few pineapples that had miniature drums hanging in front of them, and they were using small sticks to beat to a certain rhythm. After a moment of this, they stopped, and a pineapple wearing a puffy white shirt appeared to the 'audience'. The white-shirted pineapple began to tap dance, and finished by throwing its arms back. This clued in the drummers to drum away, and then stop as the pineapple moved its feet. Pretty soon, both the tap dancing and drumming pineapples were going at the same time. Soon, the white-shirted pineapple ran to a small black curtain and yanked it away to reveal several others that walked away from the curtain and began to synchronize tap dance to the drums.

They were soon joined again by the white-shirted pineapple who began to lead them for several minutes before running away from the hall as the others got into a line and fiddle music also started playing. The white-shirted fruit came back with one dressed in a black dress, and the two grabbed each other by the hands and began spinning around before breaking into tap with the rest of the animated fruit. The music finally came to a stop as the dancing pineapples made their last movement and halted to a completely silent entrance hall.

Ranma glanced around nervously in hopes that nobody figured out that it was her who caused the whole ordeal. Everyone seemed to be completely still, and she was about to give a sigh of relief when someone started to clap. Turning her head, the cat-girl noticed that it was Dumbledore, and there was an odd twinkle in his eye as he watched the pineapples. "Bravo, Miss Malfoy; that was possibly the most wondrous display of pineapple tap dancing that I have ever seen."

Ranma ears flattened on top of her head in embarrassment as she glanced around -- red-faced -- at all the stares she was receiving. Her eyes then stopped back at Dumbledore. "I didn't do nothin'!" She finally shouted. If there was a time that the cat-girl wished that she could just crawl into a hole and hide, this was one of them.

"Miss Malfoy," Dumbledore began, "are you telling me that bewitching the entire school's supply of pineapples into performing a remarkably amusing and well done rendition of Riverdance was nothing?" Ranma tapped her fingers together as the stares increased. Oh how she wished that she could just find a hole and disappear.

"I didn't know that they would all gain a mind of their own and gather around in the entrance hall! I was just trying to make my pineapple dance!" Ranma then added another thought. "Hell, I didn't even know that they'd grow legs! I just thought that the pineapple I'd make tap dance would bounce around on its bum." The awkward statement was followed by an equally awkward silence.

"Never-the-less, I think that this event might be recorded into Hogwarts history. It would be known as the first ever pineapple dancing convention. Why, what a remarkable thing for people to talk about for years to come."

"You don't really mean that, do you?!" Ranma asked in utter shock and repulsion. "Old Fart, you can't do that! Do you realize how embarrassing it would be to be associated with tap dancing fruit?!" The twinkle in the old wizard's eyes was all the answer that she was going to get. "I don't care if it's fascinating--!" The fruit they were talking about proceeded to perform something else that included dueling violins. "You've embarrassed me enough, damn it!" Ranma shouted before firing a blast of magic into the middle of the group of produce. The effect was a large splatter of juice and chunks of pineapples spread across the floor. Turning around, she marched away from the area with intent of getting away from everyone.

"Miss Malfoy," Prof. Flitwick shouted out, "Those pineapples were supposed to be used for the charms exam. What--"

Ranma stopped in her tracks and glanced back. "Use grapefruit." She stated before vanishing from the area.

"Hmm… yes, that might work just as well." Flitwick commented to himself before going to look for some. The student body, meanwhile, was shuffled about so that they could get back to their exams. By the end of that day, one thing would play on the minds of everyone: Pineapple can dance.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma sighed as she lounged on a branch in a tall tree near the lake. In her arms was Laira -- who was also enjoying a nice lounge in the shade of the leaves, and floating in front of her was her laptop, Stringy 2.0. Ranma was reading a current E-mail that she had received from Washu. Apparently, Ayeka and Ryoko had blown up the house… again. This time, however, it was due to both attempting to cook a meal for Tenchi. Who would have thought that an egg could be used as a wide-ranged explosive that could destroy the fridge? Tenchi, with a sudden backbone, seemed to have given the two women a severe tongue-lashing that caused them to go somewhere and hide. Ranma would have paid to see something like that.

A yawn escaped the cat-girl as she stretched one of her arms. She was glad to be outside where it was cooler, and not inside where the air seemed to be stale and heated. She was also hoping to calm down from the whole pineapple incident from a few minutes ago. Ranma was hoping that the final exams would be uneventful so she could relax, but those… fruit took that hope and tossed it into a blender on puree and then threw it down a garbage disposal. It was as if she was back in Furinkan-- chasing coconuts due to a scheme from the demented madman who ran the place. "Just less than two weeks, and then I can enjoy a nice long break."

Laira lifted her head a little. "And we can spend all our time together like we used to, right momma?" Her answer was a slight tug of a smile on the corner of Ranma's lips as a low chuckle was heard inside of the cat-girl's mouth. "Oh, and we'll be able to see how good I am at long distance flight when we go visit that one planet grandma Washu wants us to explore. Of course, that would be after you spend the first month with grandma Narcissa." Laira tilted her head as a look of concentration ran through her features. "What was the planet again, momma?"

"It's called Mau." Ranma answered back. "The files I copied from the computer on the moon didn't have much info regarding Mau. All it said was such things as the planet being relatively far, it and the planets around it have their own Senshi, and that the populace sport cat-ears and a tail, while the inhabitants of the other planets sport variations such as mouse, bird, butterfly, and various others."

"Ooohhh," Laira answered back with large eyes. "You'd be able to meet others who are like you!"

Ranma nodded before as a catty grin formed. "Maybe I'll even learn a few new abilities. I'm sure there might be martial arts styles, skills, techniques, or magic that I never heard of." A near-maniacal cackle caused Laira to shiver. The cat-girl could sometimes get a little… odd when thinking about such possibilities.

"--needn't have learned about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of Elfric the Eager." The familiar voice of Hermione said from below. Ranma and Laira glanced down to see that Harry, Ron, and Hermione were walking towards their tree. The trio then proceeded to slink down to the ground and sit next to the tree. Ranma caught her daughter's attention and placed a finger to her mouth as she willed her laptop away. She wanted to listen in and see what the three would say.

Ron appeared to be happy as he lazily stretched his arms, while Harry seemed to have a severe discomfort and would constantly rub the scar on his forehead. "Harry, we've got a whole week before we find out how bad we've done. There's no point in worrying right now."

Ranma nearly snorted out in amusement.

"I wish I knew what_**this**_ means." Harry answered as he poked at his scar. "My scar's been hurting, but never as often as this."

"Go to Madam Pomfrey."

"I'm not ill. I think it's a warning. It means… danger's coming." The bespectacled boy let out as he continued rubbing his forehead. "It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't always doing it."

Ranma smiled as she decided to make her presence known. Holding onto Laira, she leaped off the branch and made a flip in mid-air. The cat-girl then landed a few inches from the trio. "Yo!" The statement was simple, but it had the desired effects that she was going for. Hermione gave a loud shriek in shock, Ron attempted to back up and banged his head on the tree, and Harry tried to leap to his feet but fell backwards. As they tried to recover from the shock of having a 12-year-old cat-girl suddenly fall from the sky and land inches from in front of them, said cat-girl -- along with a cabbit accomplice -- was on her back and laughing her tail off. "Y-- You should ha-- have seen your faces!"

"That wasn't funny!" Ron shouted as he stood up and clenched his fists. "You could have given us a bloody heart attack!"

Ranma -- by this time calmed down -- waved her hand dismissively. "Eh, don't act like a baby. You'll be alright." If anything, that caused the Weasley boy to fume even more. "So," Ranma began as she turned her attention towards Harry, "your scar has been bugging you, and you think it's because there's some danger around?"

"You were spying on us?" Ron asked accusingly as he crossed his arms and continued to glare at the cat-girl. To his displeasure, everyone ignored his accusation.

"Yeah," Harry answered as his hand went back to his forehead. "Ever since that night in the forest, it has been getting worse and worse." He almost expected Voldemort to bust down the door to one of the classrooms he was in and start blasting deadly magic while giving off a high-pitched laugh. Harry blinked when a few times when Ranma appeared just a few millimeters from him and began to examine his lightning bolt-shaped scar. The cat-girl took one of her fingers and traced the forehead mark.

"Hmm… interesting." Ranma mumbled as she pulled away.

"What did you find, Lina?" Hermione asked as the trio stared at the cat-girl and waited for her to tell them what she found out.

"It's a normal scar." Ranma stated simply with a shrug. This caused the three -- and Laira -- to nearly fall to their face. "Well, a normal scar with a trace amount of magic in it. If I were to guess, I'd say that it could probably detect certain amounts of dark magic or malice, and so it throbs to warn you of possible danger." The explanation seemed to make sense, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione were lost in thought about the idea. "As for it hurting more and more, maybe Lord Mold-for-Brains has gained enough strength, and so he's now attempting to re-power himself to his old self." Ron gulped and glanced around quickly -- almost expecting said dark wizard to appear and kill the redheaded girl for such an insult. Finding that nobody was going to jump out and attack, Ron proceeded to give his two cents.

"C'mon, the stone is safe as long as Dumbledore is around. Also, we never found any proof that Snape," Ranma's eye gained a slight twitch, "found out how to get past Fluffy. After getting his leg nearly ripped off once, he's not going to try again, and Neville will play Quidditch for England before Hagrid lets Dumbledore down."

Ranma frowned and had to agree that Ron was -- in a way -- right. Hagrid was a man who owed a lot to Dumbledore, and wouldn't betray the old wizard, even for all the money in the world. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Hagrid is too loyal to tell anyone confidential information such as that. Hell, I bet even if he was plastered, he wouldn't… give… away…" Ranma trailed off completely as her mind caught up with what she had just said. Glancing down at Harry, she noticed the shocked and wide-eyed look of recognition crossing his face. After a moment of silence between the two, Ranma gave off an annoyed and long sigh. "How long will it be until Longbottom leaves for the England team, Weasley?"

"What are you talking about--" Ron was cut-off as Harry immediately jumped to his feet. "Harry, what--"

"It didn't dawn on me until you mentioned Hagrid being drunk." Harry said as he glanced right at the cat-girl in front of him. "How could we have missed the signs when we first learned about the dragon egg?" The bespectacled boy snapped his head into the direction of his two friends. "Come on, we have to hurry!" He shouted as he rushed off. He was followed by a confused Hermione and Ron who were trying to figure out what just happened. Ranma, on the other hand, watched them leave while scratching the back of her head.

"Laira," she gained the attention of her daughter, "do you ever get the feeling that while in the wizarding world, we'll always be out of the loop? I mean, what kind of person trusts a complete stranger who keeps their appearance hidden and has something that said person wants?"

Laira sat there in silence for a few seconds before clearing her throat. "Ahem," an accusing look was then sent towards her mother. "I remember that happening to you a few times before, momma."

Ranma's tail halted in mid-swing as she gave off a nervous chuckle. "Hey, I was young and stupid back then!"

"You had the mind of a 20plus-year-old, momma." The small cabbit deadpanned. "You had child-ish impulses due to your age, but you still had the mind and intelligence of someone older. Then again, from what you told me about your previous life…"

"Cheeky little brat." Ranma mumbled in annoyance. "C'mon, let's catch up before we miss out on what Hagrid actually told the stranger that night." Her daughter nodded and hopped up onto her shoulders before both vanished.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma and Laira reappeared on the roof of Hagrid's cabin. Peeking over the side, both of them saw that the three Gryffindors were already talking to Hagrid. The latter was sitting in an armchair and shelling peas. Ranma decided to just stay in secret instead of make herself known. The only thing on the trio's mind was most likely the safety of the stone.

"--'cause he kept on buyin' me drinks. Let's see… yeah, an' he said he had the dragon egg, an' he said that we could play cards ter see if'n I win it." The half-giant took a moment to recall what else had been said. "But he wanted to make sure I could handle it -- didn' want it ter go ter any old home. I then told him that, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy."

'Yeah, and I'm the queen of England.' Ranma thought with a half-lidded stare. Laira almost giggled, but managed to restrain herself so as to not give their position away.

After Harry asked -- rather calmly thought Ranma considering the situation -- if the mysterious man seemed interested in fluffy, Hagrid nodded his large head. "Well o' course he was interested. How many three-headed dogs d'ya meet, even around Hogwarts? So I told 'em that Fluffy's a piece o' cake if'n ya know how ter handle him. Ya just gotta play a bit o' music, and then he'll fall right ter sleep--" Panic settled in on Hagrid's busy face. "I shouldn' have told ya that. Ferget what I jus' said."

As Ranma watched Harry, Ron, and Hermione leave, she glanced down at Laira. 'Laira,' she began through their mental connection, 'I want you to follow after them and contact me if they decide something.'

'What are you going to do, momma?'

'I'm going to go and meet up with a certain three-headed mutt and see if anybody attempted to get past it.' As soon as Laira vanished to complete her assignment, Ranma phased away from the area of Hagrid's cabin and appeared above the walkway on the third floor forbidden corridor. Making sure that nobody -- such as Filch or Peeves -- was around, she dropped to the floor and crept towards the large door that contained Fluffy on the other side. Silently, Ranma poked her head through the door and noted that the tri-headed canine was lying on top of the trapdoor entrance. As soon as she walked through the door, however, she noted the smell that lingered around the room.

"Jeez, Fluffy," Ranma complained as she put a hand in front of her nose, "don't they ever take you outside so you can do your business?" Fluffy's heads perked up to see that Ranma was in its room. Still remembering Ranma from the last couple of times that she had come, the mini-Cerberus's tail started to wag. As soon as the cat-girl moved close enough to it, Fluffy's middle head reached out and Ranma a large and slobbery lick on the face -- which caused the fur on her tail and ears to stand up. Before she could wipe her face, the other two heads also gave Ranma a large and slobbery lick. Covered almost completely in drool, only one thing managed to escape the redhead's lips. "Ew…"

After cleaning herself from the impromptu mucus bath, Ranma placed a hand onto Fluffy's right head. "I have an important question for you, boy." The two heads that weren't being scratched glanced in her direction. "Has anybody used music around you in an attempt to possibly get through the trapdoor?" The answer she received was the two free heads shaking their heads in a negative.

'Momma,' Laira called over their connection, 'I finished my mission. It seems as if Headmaster Dumbledore left the castle because of an emergency letter he got from the Ministry that requested his presence. Harry, Ron, and Hermione believe that a move to steal the stone will happen tonight, and so they are going to sneak down to try and stop it from happening.'

'Great, Lai, you did a fantastic job.' The young cabbit swelled up in pride at the praise she had received. 'I think I'm going to wait for Quirrell, and if he wants to go down and try to get the stone, I'll let him.'

'What? Why, momma?'

'Well, I want to see how he does in those so-called trials, and maybe I'll give him a little '_**help**_' from the sidelines.' She owed him for those 'accidents' that had happened around her a while back, and she was going to try and have a little amusement as she was doing it. 'You know, I still haven't asked Hermione, Gosaria, and Nashigi if they would like to go and meet up with Washu and the rest at the Masaki household -- after I spend the first month with mom, of course.'

'Do you really want Hermione and grandma Washu to come into such close contact, momma?' Laira asked nervously at the thought. 'It could become a little scary.'

'You worry too much, Lai.' Ranma stated dismissively. 'I think the two would be able to get along nicely.' If Hermione started picking up some of Washu's bad habits, though, then that could be a scary problem. Ranma felt -- through their connection -- her daughter shivering at the thought. 'It's better if we don't worry about it now. I have my own mission of importance to finish. If I need your help later on, I'll contact you, ok?'

'Got it, momma.' Laira answered back before the mental conversation between the two was dropped so Ranma could concentrate. The only bad thing about her plan was that she had no idea _**when**_ Quirrell would arrive, and so was stuck around a monstrous three-headed dog that was lying next to her with its tail wagging as she scratched it on one of its heads.

Five minutes passed by, and Ranma was starting to feel bored.

After thirty minutes, Ranma was floating upside down with her legs and arms crossed.

At the two hour mark, Ranma was still floating upside down, but this time she had Stringy 2.0 out and was deep into a game. "Damn it, jump, and don't fall into the lava pits. You're supposed to be a master jumper. How can you not jump over a simple pit?!" A game-over tune played from the laptop. "Stupid mustachioed plumber who couldn't even properly jump. I could probably do a better job than that idiot." Continuing to grumble, Ranma tossed her laptop back into subspace and floated down to the ground where she made a flip and landed onto her feet. "If this guy doesn't show up soon, I'm gonna--" The threat died on her lips as her ears picked up the sound of someone fumbling with the door handle on the other side. Cloaking herself in the umisenken, Ranma backed up and whispered into one of Fluffy's ears. "Watch out, a very bad man might be on the other side, and he's going to try and get passed you to steal the thing you are guarding." This earned a low and threatening growl from all three heads as the dog stood up.

The door finally opened to reveal a cautious Quirrell. Held in his hands was a small blue harp that Ranma guessed would be used to put Fluffy to sleep. As the traitorous professor stepped into the room, his eyes immediately caught sight of his first -- and hopefully easiest -- obstacle of the night. Just as the mini-Cerberus prepared to pounce, Quirrell began strumming the thin strings on the harp that he had brought. He, along with Ranma, watched in fascination as the dog's three pairs of eyes started to become heavy after just a few notes. Not even 45 seconds passed before the dog collapsed to sleep on the floor.

Ranma managed to position the falling canine so that it would completely cover the trapdoor that Quirrell needed to go down. The cat-girl watched as a look of annoyance flashed across the turban-wearing professor's head as he attempted to figure out how to move the dog and keep playing the harp so he wouldn't get his head chewed off. After thinking it through, the man used one hand to hold and play the harp as he reached for his wand with the other. Bringing out his wand, he used a spell to move the large dog -- albeit slowly -- a few inches away from the trapdoor.

'Che,' Ranma thought in annoyance. 'I was hoping that he'd take a little while longer.' Deciding to go on ahead, the still invisible cat-girl flew threw the floor and traveled down the deep, dark, and moist drop. She eventually came to the end of the drop where a pile of spongy-like plant vines covered the area. 'If I remember correctly, then the last time I explored this chamber, the vines tried to grab and suffocate me. I think the plant is called -- umm -- oh, what's the name? Devah Snoo… Devin Spane… jeez, I hate Herbology and plants.' All she was really aware of was that the plant tried to strangle people, and being strangled by a plant was bad.

It wasn't too long before Ranma heard the distant sound above her of a ferocious dog trying to attack someone. A humanoid body soon fell from the sky and landed softly on the bed of vines. From her floating vantage point, Ranma's eyes could see -- through the dark -- shadowy shapes that began to reach for Quirrell. Said man held out his wand and proceeded to send out a small jet of flames. Ranma -- acting quickly -- called a bit of magic into her hand, turned it into a chilly wind, and shot it towards the flames. The effects of the cool breeze spread the flame apart and caused it to snuff out harmlessly in the air. This caused Quirrell to panic as he attempted to put a little more magic into the fire. The same thing happened again, and this time the vines of the Devil's Snare were tighter and up to his waist. It took two more attempts before the flame overcame Ranma's wind and caused the vines -- that were up to Quirrell's neck -- to recede and allow him to slowly sink to the ground.

Deciding to allow the man to pass, Ranma left the first chamber and made her way down the long and damp stone passageway. The only sounds that her ears heard as she moved down the sloping walkway were the dripping water droplets from the ceiling and the distant rustling of something in the next chamber. The distant rustling quickly came closer, and as Ranma entered the chamber, her eyes caught site of a multitude of winged objects that were flying around in random directions.

'Keys,' Ranma thought as she watched a smaller one fly passed her face before performing a loop and flying vertically upwards before coming to a halt and resuming a normal flying pattern. Her line of sight traveled to the area straight across from her, and she noticed the large door on the other side. Quickly phasing out of sight, she appeared in front of the door and was able to deduce that it was locked. 'So I have to find the key that opens the door. There's a crap-load of keys though, so any one of them could be the one I need to obtain so that I can slow Quirrell down.' She also knew that she didn't have too much time before the traitorous teacher appeared, and so she had to act fast. There was no way in hell that she would be able to look at a door and tell what kind of key unlocked it. That would be something that Ryoko would know. So, she decided try and pull a Washu and use her laptop to try and figure it out.

Positioning the device in front of the lock, she gave it a command to scan it-- quickly. She watched a holographic image appear on her screen of what the key might look like. Turning her head towards the keys, she spotted the large silver key, and she also noted that the feathers were a vibrant rainbow color. Silently thanking Washu for taking her on as a student and giving her Stringy 2.0, Ranma quickly charged for the key and grabbed hold of it before the thing knew that she was on it. Her new task was to figure out just how to slow down Quirrell. Her eyes darted to a corner of the room where pieces of stone were lying flat on the ground. A grin appeared on her lips as she made her way to the rubble and placed the struggling key under a couple of the rocks. She made sure that it was visible, but not enough so that someone could spot it right away. She then merged into the wall and waited.

The cat-girl couldn't have finished a second sooner as Quirrell stepped into the chamber and glanced up at the keys. The traitor walked over to the brooms near the wall and used one to fly up into the swarm of winged keys. It seemed as if he knew the key that he was looking for, but couldn't find it amongst the wildly moving tools. Ranma watched as Quirrell started to lose his patience after almost 15 minutes of searching for the right key. The turban-wearer lowered down and landed with his feet on the floor before beginning to smash the bristle end of the broom against the floor in annoyance. His abuse of the broom ended when a couple of the keys flew passed his vision and halted near a pile of fallen rocks. On closer inspection, Quirrell noticed something silver with rainbow wings struggling to get out from under the rubble. "Oh you've got to be kidding me." He grumbled as Ranma watched him stomp over to the struggling key.

'I was hoping he would take longer and lose his temper completely.' Ranma thought in annoyance before leaving the chamber. 'Well, at least I'm having fun.' She added as she entered the next chamber. The first things she noticed, besides the place being pitch black, were a platform and two sets of life-sized figurines. When the lights suddenly flashed on -- and after Ranma rubbed her eyes because of the sudden brightness, -- the redhead noted that the life-sized figures were actually chess pieces. The color that was closest to her appeared to be black, and if she were to hazard a guess, the next challenge would involve playing a game of chess. Deciding to examine the pieces before figuring out how to stall for time, Ranma stepped in front of one of the black pawns and traced a hand over its featureless face.

The sound of footsteps from the hall before the chamber assaulted her ears, and Ranma decided to quickly merge with the pawn as Quirrell entered. The turban-wearing traitor examined the room before walking up to the bishop. The bishop's head glanced at the man who tapped it on the shoulder. The bishop then moved away and allowed Quirrell to take its place. The traitor's first action was to have the pawn that Ranma merged with to move a step forward. Ranma gave a silent curse as she attempted to control the pawn's movements. Matter manipulation was a masu ability that she still had problems with, and so -- as she tried to step forward, -- she lost control of the right stone leg and fell flat-faced onto the chess board.

"What the hell are you doing?" Quirrell snapped in both outrage and annoyance. "Get back up and do what you are supposed to do, idiot!"

Ranma would have outright attacked him if it weren't for the fact that she was trying to be secretive. 'I think I might know a way to delay him, though.' Ranma thought as she left the pawn and entered another piece. As she watched Quirrell command pieces, the cat-girl noted the glazed look that the man would sometimes get before ordering around another chess figure.

Quirrell may have been doing a great job of commanding the pieces, but he couldn't control how clumsy each seemed to be. He noted the many times a certain piece would stumble or almost fall, and even felt angered when a piece wouldn't follow his exact orders. He figured that the pieces might have been getting rusty from standing still in such a dark and damp place for so long. It was known, however, that a set of Wizard's Chess could last for decades before possibly going bad. Perhaps the magic placed upon the game wasn't powerful enough to work for a long period of time. Whatever the case, he found that it was really pissing him off.

After about an hour and ten minutes, Ranma could see that Quirrell was just a few moments from winning the game. She then decided to leave and prepare for the next chamber and the possible ways that she could slow the traitor down.

As Ranma stepped foot into the next area, a smell, so foul and disgusting that caused her to step back and retreat from the room, assaulted her nose. 'Gah,' she thought with a series of gags, 'the stench in that place is ten times as worse than the smell in the place that Fluffy's in.' She spent a moment to recover from what her sensitive nose picked up, and then she pulled out a handkerchief. Ranma then proceeded to tie it around the lower portion of her face to cover her nose and mouth. Once that was finished, the cat-girl re-entered the room and began to walk cautiously towards the other side. Her eyes and ears searched the darkness for any sign of movement as she went. The first sign came from the sound of something walking -- no, lumbering -- around. Ears twisting and turning to get a bead on the exact location, Ranma soon found her danger sense screaming at her to get away. Listening to the feeling proved to be the right thing to do, because just as she jumped, a club came down and smashed the area where she previously had been.

Landing on her feet about a meter and a half away, Ranma spun around and- stared up at possibly the largest -- and ugliest -- troll she had ever seen. "What the hell kind of vitamins did they give you?" The cat-girl asked in shock. The troll didn't answer her question; it merely raised its large club and charged towards her with a desire to cave her head in. It missed Ranma completely as the cat-girl dodged to the side, and then jumped over a wide horizontal swing. Ranma landed on top of the monster's balding head and bent forward so that her face was level with the troll's. "C'mon big and brutish, you're never going to hit me with that slow speed of yours." She ended the taunt with a raspberry. This angered the gigantic creature even more and caused it to put all of its energy into slamming the club in its hands into the back of the annoying cat-girl's head. The troll would regret this action later on when its prey vanished to allow it to take the full force of the blow.

Ranma watched as the monstrous creature seemed to just stand there with its club against its head for a long moment. Then, all at once, the troll started to crumple over and fall into a heap on the floor. 'I almost feel sorry for the big lug.' A split-second later, Ranma slapped herself on the forehead. 'Damn, Quirrell is probably expecting this troll to appear, and if he finds out that it is already knocked out…' She trailed off as she attempted to figure out a solution to her problem. It didn't take long for an idea came. Pointing her hand towards the fallen troll, she called out the spell for Wingardium Leviosa. The troll -- with an incredible struggle -- was lifted up off the ground and onto its feet. Her next action would require a bit of concentration to accomplish. With her other hand -- while still having Wingardium Leviosa in use, -- Ranma struggled to create a second spell at the same time. It took a moment of trial and error, but she managed to gather some ice magic into her hand. It wasn't much, and it was very weak, but it would still do the job. 'I'm going to have to practice doing this. Trying to maintain two spells shoots my concentration to hell.' She thought as a bead of sweat fell down the side of her face.

Using the weak ice magic, Ranma managed to encase the troll in a thin, and slightly strong, sheet of ice. After the process was complete, Ranma dropped to her knees in an effort to catch her breath. 'Note to self: Refrain from doing that until enough practice has been done.' Shakily getting to her feet, Ranma made her way behind the trollcicle and watched as Quirrell entered the room. Gathering all of the energy she could muster at the moment, the cat-girl sent the frozen troll sliding on a collision course with the turban-wearing traitor. As she made her way to the exit, she heard the loud scream of Quirrell before a loud crash was heard. It also sounded as if the teacher was cursing out the troll for trying to run him over in a charge, and for being so stupid as to run into the wall and knock itself out.

Stepping into the next room, Ranma noted that it didn't seem all that interesting. On the table in the middle of the room were seven different potion bottles. Each of the bottles was a different size and shape. Curious about what the trial could be about, the cat-girl walked over and came to a roll of paper. Just as she made it to the paper, a wall of purple flames shot to life in the doorway from where she had come from. The exit of the room also lit up in flames, but these were black in color. Ignoring the fire, Ranma glanced down and began reading. After a moment, she dropped the paper onto the desk. "Oh crap, it's a logic puzzle!" She almost felt like beating herself on the side of the head. No matter how many times she tried to solve such things in the past, she couldn't do it. Even after all the years she spent with Washu as a teacher, she had never been able to grasp just how to do these things. She could probably solve it in time after a while of thinking, but she didn't have that kind of time.

'Ah screw it, I'm not going to bother with messing around on this challenge. It's hard enough without it.' Deciding to just go on ahead to the next room, she walked over to the onyx fire and called forth a Raywing. After she passed through the short wall of flames, they died down, and she continued on into the next chamber. To Ranma, the chamber was a simple circular room with nothing of interest. There was, however, a tall mirror on the far end of the room. There was a feeling of recognition in the back of her mind as she walked up to the mirror. As she got closer, she was able to recognize the Mirror of Erised. She briefly wondered why the mirror was here of all places, but then her curiosity to look into the mirror took over all other thoughts.

Glancing onto the reflective surface, Ranma watched as the image distorted and changed before revealing the image that apparently represented her inner-most desire. As the cat-girl stared at the image reflected back, she couldn't help but find truth in it. 'That actually is something I wish after this entire mess and year.' She thought to herself.

The image in the mirror that she saw was her lying peacefully on an empty beach and sunbathing underneath a warm sun as her arms were spread out wide, and her ears and tail twitched in utter content. Lying next to her and equally content was Laira. The waves of the ocean crashed against the outer rocks in the water far from the sand, and the clouds drifted silently in the sky above. The scene seemed so peaceful, serene, and unobstructed by all the annoyances in the world that Ranma wished nothing more than to jump into the mirror and experience it for herself. 'Why does my mirror self get to enjoy the complete peace under the sunbeams?' She thought with a slight whine as she continued to watch the scene.

Ranma finally tore herself away from the image by turning around. As she turned around, she noticed that someone was starting to come out of the black fire that she didn't know started back up. Glancing around for a hiding spot, the cat-girl finally decided to jump and hide behind the mirror. She couldn't see what was happening, but she could hear the footsteps of Quirrell coming closer.

The sound of feet against stone halted right near the mirror. The next thing she heard was Quirrell's' voice as the man contemplated the mirror. "What exactly do I do now?" his voice asked in confusion as he stood. Before Ranma could hear anything else, the loud shout of a voice that she was sure belonged to Harry made itself known. Ranma hid there and listened to Quirrell talk on about how he was responsible for all the terrible things that Harry and his friends thought Snape had done. "Now, wait quietly Potter as I examine this interesting mirror. It is the key to finding the stone." Quirrell gave a 'hmm' as he tapped around the frame. "Trust Dumbledore to come up with something like this… but he's in London. I'll be far away by the time he gets back."

Ranma quickly merged into the mirror as Quirrell walked around the mirror and answered Harry's comments without any real interest. The man spent a few moments tapping on the back of the mirror, but to no avail. He then walked back to the front of the mirror and stared almost hungrily into the glass as he answered Harry about Snape's hatred for the boy. "I see the stone… I'm presenting it to my master, but where _**IS**_ it?" He leaned in so that his face was almost touching the glass. "Something is supposed to happen with the mirror after I see the stone." Something did happen, but it wasn't what Quirrell, nor Harry, expected. A fist suddenly jetted out from the reflective surface of the mirror and smashed right into Quirrell's face. The traitorous man flew back a few feet and landed on his back. Clutching his face in pain, he started screaming about his nose being broken.

"Aw c'mon, you're supposed to be a big bad villain." Ranma taunted as she came out of the mirror. "A villain isn't supposed to go down after the first punch."

"Lina?" Harry asked in complete surprise. "How… when… why are you down here?" He had never expected to see the redhead down here. In fact, now that he thought about it, Harry hadn't seen her since they were at the tree several hours ago.

"Dat's whad I'd like ta dow." Quirrell demanded as he held his broken nose. There was a small trickle of blood flowing out from the left nostril.

Ranma answered them with a shrug. "I hid on the roof as you, Hermione, and Weasley confronted Hagrid about the one who gave him the dragon egg. I then had Laira follow you three and report back with information on what you three decide to do. You know, you kind of really suck at keeping things secret." Harry winced at the remark. "It's okay though. Not everyone can spot a small creature that can move through walls and has incredible hearing." Ranma cleared her throat to get back on track. "Anyway, after you three left, I went and visited fluffy and spent two hours and twenty minutes with him waiting for Sir Broken-nose over there."

"Wait," both Harry said as Quirrell attempted to fix his nose, "What do you mean that you spent two-and-a-half hours with Fluffy? That thing's a vicious monster."

"Actually, he acts like a playful puppy when he's around me." The cat-girl said in complete seriousness. This earned her a couple of incredulous stares. "After Broken-nose appeared, I followed him and made sure that he wouldn't have an easy time getting through the challenges. Watching him struggle and lose his patience was the highlight of my night."

"IT WAS YOU?!" Quirrell shouted as he jumped to his feet. "You were the one who almost caused me to get strangled by the Devil's Snare? You hid the key under the rubble? You caused my chess game to take longer than it should? You tossed that troll at me? You--"

"Yes, yes, it was me. I'm the guilty party." Ranma interrupted as she held up her arms. "Wow, I sound like I'm the big bad villain here." The cat-girl said to herself before shaking her head.

Harry decided to pop in his two cents worth. "You won't be able to get the stone now, Quirrell. Both of us won't let you get it."

'Wow, talk about corny.' Ranma thought as the side of her lips twitched. 'Next thing you know, Quirrell will be--'

"Oh please, Potter," the turbaned traitor began as he turned his back to look directly at Harry, "do you honestly think that I don't have a few tricks up my sleeve? I'm a far older and wiser wizard than you."

'I can't take this anymore.' The cat-girl grumbled as her hands began to glow a bluish color. She then tossed her arms forward and watched as the spell headed for Quirrell's back. Ranma cursed when the man somehow knew it was coming and jumped out of the way. The spell continued on and ended up hitting Harry. Ranma scratched the back of her head and gave a nervous laugh. "Err… sorry about that, Harry. You're alright, aren't you?" She asked as she walked forward and stopped a few feet away from the boy.

"Baah!" The boy-now-sheep-who-lived shouted in complete shock at finding himself transformed. He was still sporting his glasses, and there was still a lightning mark on his forehead. "BAAH!"

"Hey, calm down, I'll turn you back right away!" With a quick motion and a flash of blue light, Harry found himself back to his normal self. Giving a large sigh in relief, the Potter boy got back up to his feet. "Look on the bright side. At least I didn't turn you into a chicken. If I did, you'd probably become known as Harry Clucker." Ranma knew the joke was bad, and decided to just drop it.

Harry checked himself over to see if he really was back to normal. He then glanced back up at the redhead in front of him with wide eyes. "Lina, how did you do- LOOK OUT!" The warning caused Ranma to turn around and see that Quirrell had his wand pointed directly at her, and it was too late to move out of the way before she was hit by a spell. Harry watched as the redhead's form changed and shrank, and when the process was done, the bespectacled boy was looking down at a mouse with red fur and dual-colored eyes. Said mouse examined herself before turning to Quirrell and giving off a few angry squeaks.

"It seems like such a fitting form for you. Now, I think you just might be easier to get rid of." The turban-wearing man stated simply as he shot off another spell from the top of his wand. Just as it was about to hit Ranma, Harry scooped her up and jumped out of the way. "Damn it." Quirrell cursed.

Coming to a halt, Harry looked down at Ranma. "Um… do you think you will be able to reverse this, Lina? I think I might still need your help." He was worried that the girl wouldn't be able transform back and would be stuck in the mouse form she was currently in. The answer he received was a annoyed look that asked 'what, you think I'm completely helpless?'

"_Quit fooling around… use the boy." _A voice that almost sounded as if it came from Quirrell stated in a weakly voice. This caused both Harry and Ranma to glance curiously at the man. _"Ignore the girl for now… she is too helpless to be a problem. The priority is the… stone."_ Where the voice came from was no longer of interest to Ranma. She was more interested in running over there and biting the bastard… hard.

"Yes-- you are right." Quirrell quickly responded before motioning to Harry. "Potter-- come here, and leave that vermin behind."

Harry had to restrain Ranma from jumping out of his hands and charging at the man and his odd second voice. "Lina, try to figure out how to turn back." Harry whispered as he set the mouse on the floor and walked towards the mirror. The red-furred mouse then scurried to a corner of the room.

'Lai,' Ranma called out through the mental link her and her daughter shared, 'I need you to do something for me.'

'What is it, momma?' Laira asked from the other side of the connection.

'I've been transformed into a mouse.' She could feel Laira's worry building. 'I want you to grab my wand, come to where I am, and use as much magic as you can to transform me back.' Ranma watched as Harry looked into the mirror, and then noticed that the expression on the boy's face as he slowly reached into his pocket. 'Did he get it?' Ranma asked herself as she watched.

'I'm here, momma!' Laira announced as she appeared right in front of the mouse. The cabbit was currently in her humanoid form so that she could properly use the wand. Laira caught sight of her mother's current form, and Ranma soon found her being picked up by the young cabbit. 'You're so cute as a mouse!' The purple-haired cabbit mentally squealed as she began to pet her mother.

'LAIRA!!!' The yell over the mental connection caused the cabbit to drop Ranma. 'This is no time to be distracted!'

'You don't have to shout, momma.' Laira answered back as she tapped her fingers together and pouted her lips. 'I couldn't help it, you were just so cute!'

Mouse-Ranma slapped a paw to her forehead. 'Forget it, just point the wand towards me and try to draw as much magic as you can. Then, I want you to concentrate on turning me back to normal.' Ranma knew it was too simple an explanation, but hoped that the young cabbit would be able to pull it off. Harry looked like he might need a little help because of Quirrell -- who revealed that the head of Voldemort was on the back of his and was hidden under the turban -- advancing towards him.

'Ok, momma, here goes nothing.' Laira stated in confidence as she began gathering her magic into the wand. When Laira figured that she had enough to put into the spell, she pointed the wand at Ranma and concentrated on what she wanted to happen. Letting loose the magic, the cabbit watched as the spell hit Ranma and managed to turn the mouse back into a cat-girl. 'I'm going to miss your mouse form, momma.' Laira pouted with her arms crossed.

'Uh… let's discuss this later, ok?' The redhead asked before turning away and heading for the battle between Harry and the weirdoes… if you could call it a battle. Quirrell was holding on to Harry as Harry was holding onto him, and they seemed to be both in pain. Deciding to file it away for later, Ranma leapt and landed a jump-kick to the side of Quirrellmort's head. As the body skidded away, Ranma turned her attention to Harry. The boy seemed to be winded and unsteady on his feet. "So," Ranma began as she watched the one she kicked standing up, "you have the stone?"

"Yeah" Harry stated weakly. He felt more pain coursing through him than he had ever felt.

"Give the stone to me." Ranma said as she held out a hand. "I have a plan to prevent him from getting it." Harry hesitated for a moment before painfully reaching into his pocket. He then brought out a small and blood red stone and placed it into Ranma's open hand.

"Give me the stone!" Voldemort shouted in outrage as Quirrell started to take steps towards the two.

Ranma raised an eyebrow in the duo's direction. "Now tell me why I should do a stupid thing like that…Lord Moldy-wart." Quirrell stopped in his tracks, and both his face and Voldemort's turned a shade of color. Quirrell's turned pure white, while the latter's face became red in indignation and anger. Even Harry was completely silent at the insult.

"What did you call me… you impudent child?" The face asked in a voice that was so cold and low, it could freeze fire itself.

"Well," Ranma began as she scratched her chin. "You do look like a mold-covered wart festering on the back wimpy-man's head. Is it any wonder he had to wear a turban to hide your disgusting mug?"

"How dare you? I am the great Lord--"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it, I've heard the whole superiority act from people countless of times. Lord Voldemort: the so called most fearsome dark wizard in the entire wizarding world." Ranma's casual dismissal had the effect of pissing both Quirrell and Voldemort off even more. "But really, how 'great' and 'all powerful' can one be when trying to kill babies is something they are known for. Hell, you were _**DEFEATED**_ by an infant. Not a good thing to have on your evil wizard resume, buddy." Ranma proceeded to pull her eyelid down and stick out her tongue. "You're talking to the one who will become the greatest and most awesome mage in the entire wizarding world. I'll becomes so great that everyone will forget all about you and say 'Volde-who'. I'll even do it without the use of a wand-- something not even you can do, Voldy." Holding out her hand, Ranma allowed a fireball to spring to life. "See what I can do? It's way better than relying on that puny little stick." She allowed the ball of fire to dissipate.

"Master?" Quirrell asked in fear of his master's full anger coming out into the open.

Harry made a wise decision of moving several feet away from the area as Voldemort finally snapped. "You little bitch! _**I'LL KILL YOU AND PRY THE STONE FROM YOUR DEAD FINGERS!!**_"

Ranma held the Philosopher's Stone between her index finger and thumb. "Is this thing really that important? I mean, sure it would turn you back to life, but how long before the next infant turns you back into your current state?" She dodged a lunge that was meant for her neck. "I wonder." She said out loud. "What would happen if I were to destroy this stone right in front of you?"

"Y-- You wouldn't dare!" Voldemort stated in utter fear. He then decided that his best bet would to play on the two desires that almost every human has. "Y-- You know how priceless that stone is, right? You could create mountains of gold, and the amount of elixir created from it could keep you alive for eternity!" Perhaps he could cause the girl a bout of indecisiveness, and then pry it from her hands. "Think of it, child. Forever young with all the riches you could create…"

Harry was hoping that the cat-girl didn't have any greed like her brother did. After a moment of silence from Ranma, he was about to do something when she spoke. "That… is why I'm going to get rid of it." Quickly turning around, Ranma called for Laira. "Hey, Lai, it's snack time!" Her daughter leapt to her feet and watched as the cat-girl lobbed it into her direction.

"_**NOOOOOOO!!!!**_" Voldemort yelled as he watched helplessly as the odd humanoid child snatched the stone out of mid-air and gobbled it down; he didn't even question how the thing could eat it. All he could feel was complete rage as he commanded Quirrell to kill Ranma. Quirrell didn't get to even raise his wand as Harry jumped him and held on to his face. The scream of pain that erupted from the man caused Ranma to cover her ears. She watched as Quirrell managed to find the strength to push Harry off and send the boy flying onto his butt. The bespectacled boy was furiously rubbing his eyes and forehead. Ranma turned her head and saw the former teacher trying to right himself as Voldemort kept yelling.

Deciding to capitalize on the situation, the cat-girl rushed forward and proceeded to attack with a Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken combined with a little of the Lightning Fist that she had been practicing with. Hundreds of electrical charged punches reigned down on Quirrell, and the scream that began when Ranma began punching, ended after what seemed like a long moment. Stepping back, Ranma watched as Quirrell crumpled to the ground.

"Is he… dead?" Harry's voice asked with a slight nervousness behind it. He had never had a hand in killing anyone before, and the very thought of doing it just sounded so alien.

"No," Ranma answered back as she closed her eyes and concentrated on her ears. "I can still hear a faint heartbeat. He's alive, but barely." She also noticed something else that seemed off. "It also seems as if Voldemort has escaped."

"What?" Harry asked in surprise. He was feeling a little tired from the accumulation of the event and how late it was. The idea of Voldemort escaping was not something that played gently on the mind.

"I can't see him on the back of Quirrell's head, and I can't sense him anywhere close by." She noticed the worrying look on the boy's face. "Hey, don't worry about it. The guy must still be weak. Besides, if both of us were able to beat his non-existent moldy ass once, then we could both do it again later on. The best thing to do right now would be to get a nice long rest." Ranma stated as she allowed Laira -- in her normal form -- to jump up onto her head. "How was the stone, Lai?"

"It was kind of bitter." Laira responded with a grimace. "I think it also gave me a small tummy ache."

Ranma was about to respond when the sound of someone huffing entered into the room. It was Dumbledore, and the elderly wizard was attempting to catch his breath as he glanced around the room. His aged eyes first traveled to Quirrell, then to Ranma and Laira, and they finally rested on Harry -- who was leaning next to the way with his eyes closed. "I'm not too late, am I?" Dumbledore asked in a worrying voice.

"Harry's find; he's just tired and exhausted from the whole thing."

Dumbledore calmed down some, but was still on edge. "What about the Philosopher's Stone?"

Ranma motioned to the cabbit on her head. "I had Laira eat and absorb it. You could say that the stone has been destroyed." A small burp exited from said cabbit's mouth. "And it gave her an upset tummy." She actually added with seriousness and without batting an eye.

"What about--"

"Voldemort escaped, and Quirrell just kicked the bucket a second before you arrived." Ranma may have been witness to and had a hand in killing a few crazed and evil beings during her stay at the Masaki house-hold, but it was something that she'd still rather avoid unless it was necessary. "C'mon old fart, let's get out of here. I'll fill you in on what happened. You'll have to get Harry's side of the story, though." Ranma said as she walked over and picked up the sleeping Harry. She then leveled a look towards the elderly wizard. "I also have a few things to ask you about later on, Dumbledore." The bearded-man nodded as they made their way out of the chambers.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Dumbledore and Ranma sat in silence as both stared at each other and waited for one to start speaking. They had just dropped the sleeping form of Harry off at the Hospital Wing. The headmaster believed that his office would have been a better place for the two to talk. After they had arrived, and Ranma explained what she knew, it seemed like almost an eternity before anything else was said. Dumbledore then decided to break the ice. "So, what did you want to talk about, Ranma?"

"Yeah, there's something I've been wondering for a little while." Ranma admitted as she scratched Laira on the head. "You were aware that Quirrell knew that the Philosopher's Stone was in the school, and you knew that he knew where it was roughly being hidden. You were also aware that Quirrell and Voldemort were in cahoots to get the stone, and yet you did nothing to prevent him from doing anything. Why didn't you just solve the problem before it got too out of hand?" She raised her hand before the man could speak. "Also, don't give me any of that bullshit about there 'being no reasonable evidence'. You could have pulled out some Veritaserum and snuck it to him or something."

"Ah, so you know about Veritaserum?" Dumbledore asked with a twinkle in his eyes.

"I read about it a couple months ago." Ranma answered without missing a beat. "That's beside the point, though. I want to know why you put the whole school in danger and allowed a powerful and dark wizard to run around freely through the use of his meat-puppet. If he would have found the stone--"

"Neither Quirrell nor Voldemort would have been able to get the stone, Ranma." At the 12-year-old's questioning look, Dumbledore decided to explain further. "It was a brilliant idea on my part to make it so that only someone who wanted to _**FIND**_ the stone would obtain it. If the person wanted to _**USE**_ it, then it wouldn't appear for them."

"So what would happen if Voldemort or Quirrell just wanted to _**FIND**_ the stone at the moment? Yeah, I can see that turning out exactly as you hoped." Ranma didn't wait for Dumbledore to say anything. "What about the three 11 to 12-year-olds who managed to make their way through your so-called security system? If three normal children can make their way merrily through, then what's to stop a powerful dark wizard and his puppet from doing the same? I know a woman who understands a few things about security -- mostly because she spent years breaking through them. She would laugh her ass off at the whole thing if she heard about it." She stopped when Dumbledore raised his hand.

"You bring up several points regarding the way that I kept the Philosopher's Stone away from Voldemort. It was crucial, however, so that young Harry could learn the truth and prevent--" He was interrupted from his speech when Ranma stood up and slammed her hands onto the desk.

"What's with all this 'so that young Harry could learn the truth and prevent' crap that you're spewing? Are you telling me that you actually knew and anticipated that Harry -- a boy no older than 11 -- would traverse through challenges that could have killed him just so he could come face to face with, and try to stop, the guy who tried to murder him as a baby?"

"Ranma, there are many truths that neither you nor anyone else are aware of. Harry needed to learn about what was happening, and he was the one who needed to face Voldemort, for he has a special gift left to him by his mother that allows him to survive against Voldemort."

"You mean like that weird thing where if he touched Quirrell, or Quirrell touched him, it would cause pain?" Ranma asked as she remembered seeing that happen a couple times down in the chamber.

Dumbledore nodded his head. "He has a protection around him, Ranma. I won't go into specifics, but it is something he gained from his mother when she was murdered by Voldemort. Because of that, Voldemort -- and by extension the one who's body he inhabits -- won't be able to touch him due to pain. This is why Harry's involvement was necessary, and since he managed to get the stone before Voldemort, then everything worked out as it should have. I didn't expect, however, that the stone would end up being eaten." The old man stated with a sigh as he glanced at the small cabbit lying in Ranma's arms. Laira still seemed to have a mild upset stomach, and would occasionally let loose some gas from either end.

"Yeah, well, tell Flamel that his stone will be put to good use. It'll increase Laira's energy reserves and allow her to accomplish a lot more as soon as it fully assimilates with her." Ranma gave Dumbledore a leveled glare. "Back on the subject though. Did you honestly believe that as long as Harry accomplished the goal that you hoped he would, then it didn't matter what else happened? Innocent students could have _**DIED**_, Dumbledore. Did you honestly think about that? Hell, what if Harry, Ron, or Hermione died down there? Do you think you could have looked at yourself in a mirror after that?" Ranma stopped after noticing the weary look on Dumbledore. The twinkle in his eyes was gone, and he looked far older than he usually did. Ranma mentally smacked herself for somehow putting her foot in her mouth. "Err… sorry about what I said just now."

"Throughout our lifetime," Dumbledore began in a voice that sounded tired, "we humans are prone to making mistakes, and many times when we try to correct them, we end up making things worse. The only thing we can then do is to try and continue on and prevent a minimal of damage." Taking off his half-moon spectacles, Dumbledore proceeded to rub his eyes. "You may believe that what I'm doing is wrong, but it is something I must do to ensure that things don't get worse. Harry is going to have to fully face Voldemort someday, and so it is best for him to figure out and face his fears so that he can prevail."

"That doesn't make it any less messed up, though." Ranma grumbled out as her ears twitched. "Still, it's not like he's the only one who has things to settle with Moldy-wart. I still owe him for killing me, and I'm not going to let Harry finish him off before I get a chance to give him a good ass-kicking."

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "Moldy-wart? Well, I must say that it is an amusing name, and there are probably many people who do not fear him that would say it." His eyes gained back the twinkle that he always seemed to have. "I can only imagine how he might act if that name actually became common."

"Probably blow a gasket or something." Ranma replied with a chuckle. She still had some issues with the elderly wizard's way of operating with things, but decided to just drop it for now. She also figured that it was probably time to leave, and so she headed for the door. Before she exited, she left Dumbledore with some words of advice. "Oh, and old fart, could we just keep my activities a secret? I've had too much needless attention over the school year, and I don't need anymore. If you do mention it, though, I'm going to kick your ass clear to the 10th moon of Jupiter. Got it?"

"Loud and clear."

"Also, make sure that Harry doesn't tell anyone about me being down there either. I want some peace, and I'm not going to get it if everyone keeps bugging me to tell them crap that happened." She then exited through the door and made her way to someplace quiet where she could sleep.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Students piling through the doors to the Great hall a few days later for the end-of-year feast that would start in a few moments watched in confusion as Ranma stood near the doors. Normally, someone sitting wouldn't earn a bunch of stares, but when the person is standing and holding a yarn ball-shaped device and mumbling small curses, one tends to wonder. However, since it was a certain cat-girl who was being weird, nobody really stayed for too long before heading into the Great Hall. "Damn it, why can't I ever get that stupid plumber to listen to me when I tell him to jump?" Ranma mumbled and caused a few students to sweat-drop.

"Lina! How is that computer working properly here at Hogwarts!?" A confused and shocked Hermione shouted as she appeared next to Ranma. Said cat-girl didn't realize she was there and ended up jumping and clinging to the ceiling. Ranma glanced down to see that Hermione was looking right at her with a look that said 'I want some answers, now'. Next to her were Ron and a completely well-rested Harry. "I know that it was working on the train back from winter break, and I know that you said it would work here at Hogwarts, but I've never even seen you use it before! Electronics aren't supposed to work here, so how exactly can your computer work, and why haven't you used it?!"

Ranma dropped down from the ceiling and noticed that a small group of people were staring. Ignoring the stares, she turned her attention back to Hermione. "I have been using it, Hermione. I've used it to check for e-mail, learn the information that Washu wanted me to, play games, and various other things. The reason you haven't seen me use it is because I usually try to use it when I'm alone." She then added the next part under her breath. "_Because the old fart and several of the teachers decided that using it too much around the students would be bad for some reason_." Ranma didn't understand what the problem was. Many of these kids would have been better off if they learned a few things about electronics. "When it comes to technology, only a few can ever hope to pass Washu."

"Um-- Lina-- during the summer break, could I meet Washu again? I only saw her for a few minutes at the train when we were first coming to Hogwarts." If the woman could make such an interesting computer for the cat-girl, then maybe she could make one for her as well. The redhead had also mentioned that Washu had acted as her teacher for several years, and so maybe there were a few things Hermione could learn from the woman.

Ranma thought for a moment as she put Stringy 2.0 away. "Sure, I was thinking about asking you if you wanted to go and meet Washu." Hermione's eyes became big and starry. "You'll have to wait until the second month, though. Like I told you, I have to spend the first one with my mum. I'm also going to see if Gosaria and Nashigi can come as well."

"Oohohohohohohohooo," the obvious laugh of the girl known as Nashigi sounded through the halls. The dark-haired girl then appeared on Ranma's right, and Gosaria appeared on Ranma's left. "Of course we'll be able to come, Lina. I know I wouldn't miss it for the world!"

"Yeah, I want to come with you and see what these people are actually like!" Gosaria announced with a large smile upon her face. "Oh! We need to hurry up, the end-of-year feast is about to begin!" The blonde shouted as Nashigi and she pulled Ranma away and into the Great Hall. As she was being dragged, Ranma wondered if she had actually made the right decision, and hoped it was something she wouldn't end up regretting.

As she sat down, Ranma noted all the green that was strung around, and the subdued atmosphere that accompanied the three other tables. The atmosphere at her table felt like the exact opposite. She figured it was due to the points score, and wondered why people seemed so interested in some petty little award that would only belong to one house for a year before being won by another. Then again, Slytherin _**had**_ the cup for seven years already. 'Whatever, it's just a useless little thing.' She thought as she waited for the food to come. Ranma then realized -- when Dumbledore got up to speak -- that it would be a little while before the meal started. Deciding to ignore most of what the elderly wizard was saying, Ranma placed her elbow on the table and laid her cheek on her hand.

The old wizard talked on about the house cup, and something about points needing to be re-evaluated. Ranma then watched as Dumbledore awarded points to Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville. The result was that Gryffindor moved ahead of Slytherin, and so the hanging colors turned into red and gold. The atmosphere of the tables was then flip-flopped as a few Slytherins shouted about how it wasn't fair. "It's just a useless cup." Ranma stated after a few more Slytherins whined about unfairness. "I'm just waiting for them to get this ruddy feast started."

"Yeah!" Gosaria and Nashigi stated as the same time. As if to answer their desire, a feast that matched both the Halloween and start-of-year feasts appeared in front of them. The usual 'three-way-food-battle-that-could-cause-you-to-lose-your-fingers-if-you-weren't-careful' commenced with gusto.

"Damn it, why must you three always be so bloody messy when you eat?!" Pansy yelled out in annoyance as she tried to eat her own food.

"Becauf da hood ith so guhd."

"Don't talk with your mouth full!!" Another Slytherin shouted in annoyance.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma went over her exam results again as she boarded the train to go home. Her best grades were in History of Magic, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Astrology where she got full marks. She was missing a couple marks in Potions and Transfiguration, and her worst subject was obviously Herbology. The last one didn't surprise her considering how much at war she usually was with most of the stupid plants she had to work with. All in all, she was fully satisfied with her scores. Ranma gave a quick look at Gosaria and Nashigi.

Gosaria had full marks in Potions and Herbology. History of Magic and Transfiguration were her worst subjects, and Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, and Astrology were mixed somewhere in between.

Nashigi had full marks in Potions, Transfiguration, and something called Divination. Her worst subjects were something else called Care for Magical Creatures, History of Magic, and Herbology. Charms, Astrology, and Defense Against the Dark Arts were somewhere in between.

Draco had also shown Ranma his scores. Her brother's top scores were in Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, and Herbology. He also didn't do too bad in Transfiguration and Astrology. His lowest subject, though, was History of Magic.

The only other person that Ranma knew got a perfect in History of Magic was Hermione, and the bushy-haired girl apparently had the highest grades of any first year.

'I don't even want to know what kind of concentration that takes to even accomplish.' Ranma thought as she reached up and scratched Laira on the head. 'Ah well, there's no need to think about it. I can finally have a nice long break to rest up.'

'And we can also spend it with grandma Narcissa!' Laira announced loudly. This caused a slight sweat-drop to appear on Ranma's head.

'Yeah… you know, maybe it won't be so bad to spend this time with her.' Ranma answered back as she took her seat by the window. 'I just hope she doesn't go overboard again on trying to turn me into a 'cute and adorable' daughter, and also attempting to make me into a 'proper Malfoy'.' Her eye twitched slightly in remembrance of that event. 'Who would have thought that a woman who can be so snobby and full of herself could have such a large 'cute complex'?'

Laira shivered as she remembered the same event. 'Let's just not think about it and try to get through the month, momma.' Ranma nodded as she watched out the window. At the moment, she felt as if she really didn't care, as long as her mother was happy for the month that she promised to spend with her.

'Damn it, I'm too much of a nice person.' Ranma thought in annoyance. Laira actually answered her with a snort of laughter. 'What? I am!' Her daughter continued to laugh. 'I get no respect. See if I let you have carrots for the next couple of weeks.'

'Momma, that's not fair!'

xxA.Nxx

Wow, so 'Book 1' is finally finished. I think I actually did a nice job in accomplishing something. Now we're getting into the summer vacation, and I have a few ideas for the sub-storyline. I hope I'm not the only one who thinks that Hermione meeting Washu can result in complete disaster.


	20. A Little Mother and Daughter Bonding

Wild Magic

Ranma 1/2, Slayers, Harry Potter, and any other series used in this fanfic are owned by their respective creators/publishers/whatever

Thanks to CyberSkaarj and the people of Fukufics for pre-reading.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Chapter 20

Ranma felt like her entire body was about to be crushed into pieces. Now normally, the problem of an object trying to crush her could easily be avoided by either quickly phasing through said object _**OR **_using her strength to push whatever heavy object away from her. That wasn't the case at the moment, and the problem wasn't coming from an 'object', it was coming from a person and said person's actions. "Mum, if you don't quit hugging me, you're going to break me in half!" Indeed, the redhead's discomfort came from the unusually strong grip of Narcissa's hug. 'Since when did she get so strong?'

"Oh! I'm sorry about that, sweetie." Narcissa responded with minor embarrassment as she loosened up a little on the embrace. "I'm just so excited over the idea of us spending this entire month together. We're going to have so much fun!" The Malfoy matriarch finally let go of her daughter and proceeded to give the cat-girl a kiss on the forehead.

'I'm probably going to regret this.' Ranma thought with a slight frown. Her ears soon twitched as a faint sound reached the cat-like appendages. Turning her head, Ranma glared at her brother, Draco. "Is there something funny, dragon boy?"

"Not at all, 'Red Cat'." Draco responded with a hint of amusement as he held Laira. "There's nothing funny at all. It's just nice to see that you and mum are going to have a pleasant time together."

Lucius's curiosity became piqued after hearing the name Draco called his sister. "Red Cat, did you say?" He had to admit, there was a certain ring to it..

"Yeah, it's a nickname that someone at school started calling Lina. Pretty soon, the name got around and other students started to sometimes refer to her as Lina the Red Cat." Draco managed to keep a straight face despite the look of annoyance on his sister's face.

Narcissa gave her daughter a bright smile. "It's just your first year, and you've already gained a title for yourself." There was an obvious hint of pride within her voice.

'More like several, and almost all of them unappealing.' Ranma thought with a frown. It was mostly luck that the one that had stuck the most was one she didn't mind all that much. It also had a better ring to it than The Crimson Eyed Flaming Devil Girl moniker that she had earned near the beginning of the year. The latter was cool and all, but it was too much of a mouthful.

"Momma." Laira's voice caused Ranma to turn her attention to the cabbit. "Can I show grandma and grandpa my other form? They've never seen it."

Narcissa and Lucius were feeling rather curious about what the small creature was talking about when she said 'other form'. As soon as their daughter had given the go-ahead, they watched the rabbit-like animal jump out of Draco's arms and start to change. Their eyes widened considerably as they watched Laira transform into what looked like a humanoid four-year-old child. In fact, if it wasn't for the light fur, they would have thought she had turned human.

Ranma was glancing at her daughter with her own odd look. The cabbit's hair -- which was usually purple -- seemed to have started turning red. In the middle of Laira's hair from the bangs all the way down the back of the head, there was a five inch stripe of crimson that was the same shade as her own. The difference didn't stop there, however. Laira's eyes -- Ranma didn't understand how she didn't notice before -- had also changed. The right eye was now crystal blue. The left eye, however, was an even mix of lavender and red. Ranma hazarded a guess that the color of the left eye and the coloring of the hair weren't finished changing colors yet. There was only one possible reason for how Laira changed.

'The Philosopher's Stone.' Ranma thought to herself as she punched a fist into her hand. 'That has to be it.' There was also the thought that she would have to bring the issue up with Washu later on. There was a possibility that the diminutive genius could figure out the reason.

The cat-girl was brought out of her musings by the sound of her mother grabbing hold of Laira and gushing about how much more adorable the cabbit had become. She also noticed that her father had a curious look in his eyes as he slowly stroked his chin.

"How exactly did this come to happen, Lina?" Lucius asked in a calm voice.

"Lina mentioned something about Laira eating some kind of magical artifact they found on winter break, father." Draco responded as he stared at the cabbit's new colors. "But the last time I saw her hair and eyes, they were completely purple."

"Grandma, you're going to crush me!" Laira shouted in discomfort from the embrace Narcissa had her in.

The blonde woman had the decency to blush as she let go of the humanoid cabbit. Clearing her throat, Narcissa quickly stood up. "I apologize, Laira. It's just that you are _**so**_ cute. Except for the fur, you really could pass yourself off as Lina's daughter." Narcissa noticed the excitement that seemed to appear on the cabbit's face and giggled.

Laira turned on her heals to face her mother and gave the redhead a wide smile. "Hear that, momma? People could now know that I really am your daughter by first glance!"

Ranma's ears twitched as a sweat-drop appeared on her head. She honestly had no clue why Laira was so excited about the whole idea. It didn't really seem to be something to get excited about. "Great, now I'll have to explain to everybody why you have fur."

"Daughter, considering that you have cat appendages, do you honestly think people would question why your-- well-- daughter has fur?" Lucius asked with a faint smirk.

Draco couldn't help but laugh at his sister's predicament. "I don't think anybody would even _**WANT**_ to guess." It was true in most instances. Many people in the wizarding world would decide that it would be safer to not ask questions.

"Whatever." Ranma responded quickly as she grabbed Laira. "We're going to go take a bath." She didn't really want one at the moment, but it would be a good place to just relax.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The bathing room at the Malfoy estate was similar to the bathing rooms at Hogwarts. The bath was built into the floor similar to an indoor pool. The bath was a foot or so smaller in width than the Hogwarts baths, but the room seemed to have an almost permanent sparkle to it. On all of the walls were various multi-colored mosaics. None of the mosaics had a definite picture as the images mostly contained artistic swirls and patterns that reflected light off of them.

Both Ranma and Laira -- with towels and bathing supplies in hand -- entered the area and took a brief moment to glance around at the elaborate mosaics. "This place is still beautiful." Laira commented after a moment and glanced up at her mother. The cabbit rolled her eyes when the cat-girl stayed silent instead of agreeing. "Momma, could you wash my hair?"

Ranma raised an eyebrow. "Why? We both know that you can wash your own just fine. You don't need me to do it."

"Pwease momma?" Laira asked in a child-like fashion as she grabbed the cat-girl's hand and gave her 'the look'.

Ranma's eye proceeded to twitch. "Don't give me the puppy-dog look, Lai." Her daughter almost seemed to increase the effectiveness of the technique in response. "Alright," Ranma finally answered as she closed her eyes. "I'll wash your hair. Just stop it with the puppy-dog look." No matter how long she lived, Ranma figured that she would never be able to stand up to that damn look; let alone from Laira.

"Yay!" Laira shouted as she continued to hold her mother's hand. After a moment, though, Ranma noted something that seemed a little strange.

"Say Lai, show me your wrist." The humanoid cabbit nodded as she turned her wrist around. Ranma examined her daughter's wrist closely and managed to figure out what the problem was. On Laira's wrist was a small -- and almost unnoticeable -- lump. Upon a closer inspection, Ranma also noticed a very tiny opening of sorts that was situated where Laira's wrist met her hand. "I've never noticed this before. Is it on your other wrist?"

The cabbit gave a small nod. "They appeared a day or two after I ate that Phila-- Philosh-- that stone thing. I didn't tell you because I wanted to try and figure it out."

"And did you?" Ranma asked curiously. The cat-girl was interested to know just what kind of ability absorbing the magic of the Philosopher's Stone had given her daughter.

Laira nodded slowly. "Some kind of liquid can flow out of my wrists. All I know is that it sizzles and melts stuff. I-- well-- I'm scared that I could end up melting a person." She finished as she poked her fingers together. The idea of the liquid doing just that scared her. She didn't want to accidentally lose control and badly hurt someone.

"Here." Ranma said as she held out her hand. "Use that liquid stuff on my hand." She didn't really want to do this, but they had to make sure that whatever the stuff was, they wouldn't run the risk of melting a person into liquid. It would be rather bad, and Ranma wouldn't want either of them to be blamed. "If it melts, we'll know that hitting people with it wouldn't be a good idea." Besides, she could always use her masu abilities to regenerate a new hand.

Laira was reluctant to do it, but finally decided to comply. "O-- Ok, momma." Placing her wrist above the cat-girl's hand, the cabbit bent her hand backwards to shoot the liquid onto the hand. However, Laira misjudged the angle and power and accidentally fired the liquid off towards Ranma's face.

As soon as the liquid hit Ranma, she gave off a painful shout and clutched her face with her hand. "Damn friggin sonnova bloody hell!"

"I'm sorry momma! I didn't mean to hit you in the face!" Laira shouted with panic etched on her face.

"That burned like bloody hell!" Ranma finally shouted as she removed her hand. Her face didn't melt, but there were a couple patches of bright red. "The stuff doesn't melt skin; it burns like a person under the Cat's Tongue pressure point!" Ranma was brought out of her rantings when Laira wrapped her arms around the redhead and buried her face into Ranma's chest. "Laira, what--"

"I'm sorry momma!" Laira answered between small sobs. "I wasn't careful, and if that stuff melted skin -- and did it to your face, -- it would have been my fault!" A few small hiccups appeared within the cabbit's sobbing.

Ranma sat there for a moment as she tried to think of what to do. Finally, she wrapped an arm around Laira and started rubbing her daughter's back. "C'mon Lai, I'm fine; except for a couple burns." That didn't seem to make Laira feel any better. Mentally kicking herself, Ranma attempted again. "Hey, you know me. If my face melted a little, it'd heal, right? It was just an accident. You've probably never figured out how to use it properly, and so that happened. We'll just have to train so you can get the hang of it." When Laira seemed to calm down, Ranma gave herself a mental cheer. "So don't worry about it, ok?"

"Lina?" The voice of Narcissa -- which Ranma had recognized -- asked from behind the duo in the entry-way. "Is everything alright in here?" The blonde woman was, of course, referring to Laira who still had her face buried into Ranma's chest.

"Yeah, she's just upset because a new ability she has accidentally hit me in the face." The cat-girl turned her head to glance at her mother as the Malfoy woman kneeled next to them and softly stroked Laira's hair. "Why are you here?"

"Well," Narcissa began, "I decided that we should get an early start on spending our month together, and so our first moment of mother-daughter time will be doing something that we haven't done together since you were little."

"You can't be serious." Ranma replied with a frown. "Do you honestly want us to bathe together?" The question was rather stupid to ask considering her mother's current state of un-dress.

"Well, you and Laira are going to bathe together." Narcissa answered with a finger to her chin. "I don't see why mother, daughter, and granddaughter can't have a bath together. There won't be anybody else, and so we spend some time getting to know each other." A smile appeared on the woman's lips. "Come on, honey. I'll even wash your hair for you while you can do Laira's."

"Mum, I can wash my own hair. I don't need help doing that."

"C'mon momma," Laira interrupted as she slowly pulled away from her mother's chest. "You were going to wash my hair even though I can do mine without help." The cabbit received a look that said 'you just reworded that to suit you'. "Pretty please?"

"Alright," Ranma answered before Laira could do 'that look'. "I'll let mum wash my hair while I wash yours, and then we can all get to know each other. Now, are ya both happy?" Ranma finished with an annoyed grumble. Her answer was a pair of hugs from both her mother and daughter.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"This is embarrassing." Ranma complained with a frown. She was currently sitting in the bath water with Laira right in front of her as she washed the young cabbit's hair. Ranma, herself, was sitting right in front of Narcissa as the older woman washed _**HER**_ hair. Her only saving grace was that there was nobody around to see her in her current predicament.

"Sweetie, you need to learn to lighten up a little." Narcissa commented softly. The Malfoy woman was obviously having a grand time spending the moment with her daughter and pseudo-granddaughter. "There's nobody else here, so you should just relax. This is -- after-all -- time we are spending together."

'That's true.' Ranma thought to herself. 'Maybe I should have put a little more thought into it when I agreed that we would spend the entire month together.' Still, was it really all that bad? The way her mother was washing her hair felt good. The woman was being slow and thorough… almost like she was giving her scalp a light massage.

"Lina, you don't take care of your hair very well, do you?" Narcissa asked with a frown. At her daughter's questioning look, the Malfoy woman continued. "There are patches of your hair that are badly tangled, and it just doesn't seem well kept."

Ranma simply gave a shrug in response. "It's just hair. I don't really see a reason why I should fiddle around with it more than I need to." Scooping up some water in a small container, the cat-girl dumped it over Laira's head to rid the cabbit of the shampoo in her hair.

Narcissa shook her head as she worked on untangling some of her daughter's hair. "If you don't keep proper care of your hair, it could end up becoming even worse. You have beautiful hair, and so you really should manage it properly." Narcissa wondered if Laira actually had the same problem with her own hair. "After we get done, I'll brush both yours and Laira's hair."

"I don't need my hair brushed." Ranma shot back in annoyance. "If Laira wants you to brush her own hair, ok. I'll just tie my hair back up in a pony-tail, and so it won't really need to be brushed." Why should she have to preen herself?

Her mother gave a small sigh. "You really do need to learn some proper personal grooming tips, sweetie."

"Give me one good reason why."

"Well, for one, you are a member of the Malfoy family. As such, you would need to be an example of the family. Keeping yourself well-groomed will help the family image." At that, Ranma gave off a snort of amusement. "Another reason is if you ever want to make a good impression on a boy of your liking--"

Ranma snapped her head around almost instantly. The look in her dual-colored eyes was one that said 'you have got to be kidding'. "Tell me you're not serious about the second one." She'd be damned if she'd ever do that… unless she wanted to con some food from some fool, or wanted something that the person had.

Narcissa blinked in confusion for a moment. "Not serious about what, honey? I'm sure that you'll break many boys' hearts later on."

"That won't be the only thing I'll break if they try and pull some stupid crap on me." The cat-girl commented darkly with a rather sinister glint in her eyes. Her comment actually caused Laira to giggle for a moment.

Her mother's eyes lit up as a thought dawned on her. "Oh, I see. You've yet to enter that phase and are still in the 'boys are icky' stage." The blonde woman let out a small giggle.

'Now and forever.' Ranma thought to herself. The day she started liking guys would be the day she forgot that two plus two equaled four. 'I may have a girl's body, but that doesn't mean I have a girl's mind or certain other feelings.'

"But grandma," Laira began without a thought, "momma _**DOESN'T**_ like boys at all. She-- MMPH!" The cabbit was stopped in her talking by her mother's hand clamped over her mouth. 'Momma, why did you do that?' Laira asked curiously through their mental connection.

Ranma answered back with force. 'Because, Lai, she doesn't _**NEED**_ to know. I don't want her to get disgusted with me, alright?' She didn't even know why she said that last part, but she did. If she was lucky, the woman wouldn't think anything of it.

"Lina, what did Laira mean when she said that? And why did you prevent her from saying anything else?"

"Uh-- well-- you know how children are, mum." Ranma answered as she nervously scratched the back of her head as her ears twitched. "They usually say strange things out of the blue."

"Kind of like you are now." It wasn't a question at all, but a statement. Even though they had never spent all that much time together, Narcissa _**KNEW**_ when her daughter was attempting to cover up things with a lie. The girl's ears would twitch violently, and she would follow it up by scratching the back of her head while giving off a nervous chuckle.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Lina Inversia Malfoy," Narcissa began in the tone that all children dread to hear. "I want the truth, now."

Ranma gave a sigh in resignation. She could just leave and not explain, but something in the back of her mind was holding her back from it. "Alright, jeez, ya don't have to use that kind of tone." With another sigh, she continued. "I don't like boys, ok? I like girls. The very thought of being romantically involved with a guy makes me want to vomit out the contents of my stomach. If any man ever tries coming onto me, I'll grind their face into the dirt!" As she finished, Ranma could feel her mother tense and go completely silent. 'Crap, it looks like I definitely ruined the whole 'mother-daughter' month thing. Knowing her ideals, she'll probably become all disgusted with me.' Honestly, she didn't know why she cared about it.

After what seemed like an eternity, Narcissa finally responded to what her daughter had told her. Silently and slowly, she draped her arms around the cat-girl's shoulders -- and caused said cat-girl to flinch slightly. "A large part of me wants to feel disgusted at the idea." Narcissa commented softly into Ranma's ear. "You're a girl, and so you should grow into a beautiful woman and marry a handsome and strong guy." Ranma's annoyance rose a little as that was stated. "Being attracted to the same gender is against many things I believe." Narcissa added sadly. "I should feel angry, disgusted, and disturbed by the very idea. However, a larger part of me does not."

"Huh?" Came Ranma and Laira's intelligent replies.

"I'm your mother." Narcissa stated simply. "Maybe I do have some anger and disgust over the fact, but I am still your mother. A mother should be there for her child no matter what. If said child committed a crime, the mother should still -- deep down -- love her child unconditionally. Some expectations of what a mother expects of her child end up destroyed, but should she give up? Or should she just create new expectations that respond to the change?" Narcissa closed her eyes and tightened her embrace a little. "Honey, I haven't really known you as much as I'd like, and so I want to get to know anything I can about you. As such, I'll be here for you if you ever need me. I want to be your mother, and I won't let anything as silly as you liking the same gender get in the way."

It was Ranma's turn to stay silent as she absorbed everything the blond woman had just said. She wasn't expecting her mother to be so… understanding of it considering the views the Malfoy family had. Hell, many things the woman said caused her to wonder why Nodoka acted the way she did with the whole 'manliness contract' that she seemed to live by in her past life. Hell, Ranma remembered a moment a couple years ago when the subject of her preferences came into discussion. For some reason, Nodoka stated a few times that it 'was only a phase', and that when the time came, she'd make some boy really happy. It was at that moment that Ranma -- despite still considering Nodoka like a mother -- decided that the woman was off her rocker when it came to certain issues.

Now, though, it seemed as if the second person she considered a mother, and hadn't spent nearly enough time with, understood almost completely and didn't care what gender she preferred. 'Maybe,' Ranma thought as her hand subconsciously reached up to hold her mothers. There was a strange feeling of comfort growing as she sat there. 'Maybe I really should just give this month a chance.' It wasn't like it was going to kill her or anything to do it. "Mum."

"Yes, dear?"

"Perhaps later on, I'll let you brush my hair." After-all, just like how some sacrifices must be made for the art, maybe some others should be made for getting to know family that you never hardly knew. "And only this one time." Internally, Ranma still cursed the fact that despite being a girl for 12 years, and that she spent most of the time living around the women at the Masaki residence, she still had a slight weakness to females getting all emotional.

A warm smile appeared on Narcissa's lips. "Of course, dear." The Malfoy woman honestly didn't think the month would turn out like she though, but maybe it will. "Lina."

"Yeah?"

Narcissa's voice was filled with amusement. "Did you know that you practically have no breasts at all?" There was an incredible amount of obvious teasing.

"Hey!" Ranma shouted as she jumped away from the older woman and gave her a glare. "What the hell kind of discussion between a mother and child is _**THAT**_?" Next to her, Laira let off a loud giggle.

"I know that mine were coming in rather nicely when I was your age." Narcissa added as she ignored her daughter's question. "Maybe you really do take after your ancestor a bit more than we thought."

Ranma pulled the bottom of her eye down and stuck out her tongue. "Bleh!"

"That's not mature at all, momma." Laira deadpanned.

"You're right, Laira. Lina should really be acting more grown up than that." Narcissa added with a slight giggle.

"Jeez, I just can't get a break from you two." Ranma grumbled in annoyance as she crossed her arms, dipped below the water, and sulked. 'Maybe I really did make the wrong decision.'

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A wince flashed across Ranma's features every once in a while as she sat silently in a chair as Narcissa -- sitting on Ranma's bed -- passed a brush through her hair. Narcissa had decided to wait until her daughter and pseudo-granddaughter were about ready to go to bed before she decided to work on their hair. Ranma had questioned the point of brushing their hair before going to sleep, since it was obvious that the hair would only get messed up again in her sleep.

Her mother's answer was rather simple. They were brushing her hair to get rid of all the tangles -- which seemed to infest the redhead's hair like crazy -- so that it wouldn't get even worse during the night.

"I still stand by my statement from earlier about you needing to learn proper personal grooming, sweetie." Narcissa commented as she removed another tangled patch of crimson hair. "At least for the sake of your hair _**NOT**_ becoming a complete tangled mess again." The woman added with a frown. She was lucky that the tangles could be undone with just a flick of her wand.

"And I still stand by my statement that I don't. Primping and preening is something girls do to look like overly-dolled up fake princesses." Ranma shot back with a violent shudder. It was one thing to do stuff like that for a disguise, but it was a whole different matter to do it all the time just to look good and be girly.

"You are such a tomboy." Narcissa answered back with a sigh. "You know, Lina, it's not just us women. Your father -- along with quite a few men -- try to stay in the habit of being well-groomed."

"Yeah, and many look like overly-dolled up fake princes trying to impress others with their lame-ness." Ranma interjected as she remembered several Juraian and other worldly nobles that she had met during her stay at the Masaki residence. "Pops is alright in a way, I guess." Sure seemed like he had a stick up his ass at times, but he wasn't all that bad; if you could get past some of the more negative aspects of the man, that is.

Narcissa leaned forward and began whispering into her daughter's ear. "That reminds me, Lina. I think we should keep your… preferences a secret from your father. He's a good man, but it's possible he could become a little temperamental over it. It'll be our little secret." When her blue eyes glanced into Laira's direction, the young cabbit had the decency to blush.

"It's not my fault, grandma." Laira answered innocently as she tapped a couple fingers together. "I just seem to have gained the foot-in-mouth problem from momma. She has a lot of bad traits that just seem to rub off on me." The next thing Laira knew, Ranma had grabbed her by the ear.

"Don't trying pulling that kind of crap, Lai." Ranma commanded as her daughter struggled to get her ear loose from the cat-girl's grip. "You aren't as innocent as you make yourself out to be. Who's the one stealing carrots from the Hogwarts kitchens?"

Laira puffed up her cheeks in indignation. "Yeah, well you sneak out of the dorms a lot to prowl around the castle. I wouldn't consider _**THAT**_ good behavior, momma. Shouldn't you be setting an example or something for your own daughter?"

A vein appeared on Ranma's head. "Oh, I'll show you a good example. C'mere, it'll be a good--"

"Ahem." The sound of Narcissa clearing her throat halted the two in their verbal tirade. "As interesting as it is to watch you two arguing, I think it would be best to cut it short so we could get back to our discussion."

"Like what?" Ranma asked.

A thoughtful look flashed across Narcissa's features. "Well, maybe you could explain to me what _**YOUR**_ preferences for clothing are." She watched as her daughter blinked several times before glancing down at the nightgown -- that Narcissa had insisted on -- that she was wearing. After a moment, the cat-girl's gaze focused back onto her mother.

"If I tell you, does that mean you'll stop trying to get me to dress in cute outfits?" Ranma asked with an obvious hint of hope in her voice. "Because if that's the case, then there's only one thing I can really say. Trousers. I just want trousers. I don't care about anything else, but if I can have more trousers, I'll be happy. After spending almost an entire school-year wearing a damn skirt, I feel as if I'm in trouser withdraw!" She noticed the looks her mother and Laira were giving her. "What? I mean it! You know how hard it is to practice martial arts in a dress or skirt?"

"I still don't know why you do that martial arts thing." Narcissa commented with a frown. "I could understand if you only practiced it for the exercise to stay healthy, but you practice it so you could fight with your fists and feet like a muggle." There was an obvious look of mild disgust when the blonde woman said the word 'muggle'. "You have your magic, and you can use it without a wand. Not only that, but you have those other powers of yours. With all that, I just can't see why you need to use your physical body."

"Because it's exciting." Ranma responded as she looked straight at her mother. As Narcissa watched her daughter, she could see the passion in the cat-girl's heterochromatic eyes. "Every time I find myself up against a strong opponent, there's an adrenaline rush that grabs hold of me. The full knowledge of me pitting my very own abilities against another person thrills me to no end. Training and practicing so that I can move gracefully and strike quickly and effortlessly--"

Narcissa placed a finger on her daughter's lips to silence her. "I think I get the picture, sweetie." The blonde woman stated with a faint smile as she removed her finger. "Now I know how strongly you feel about martial arts."

"Well, I also love figuring out how to incorporate magic into my martial arts as well." Ranma added with a smirk. 'I guess science and technology aren't all that bad either.' She added to herself. "And figuring out new techniques and spells -- along with revising and improving -- is also incredible."

A large sweat-drop appeared on her mother's head. "I think I get it, dear. Your whole life practically revolves around those." After a shake of her head, Narcissa stood up. "We can discuss more later on, honey. I think it would be best to now get a good night's sleep."

"Well, I guess I am a little tired." Ranma responded before glancing towards Laira. "Huh, it seems I'm not the only one."

"Go on and get ready for bed, Lina." Narcissa stated with a smile. "I'll be back in a few minutes with my pillow."

"Right, mum-- what?" Ranma asked with a series of blinks. "Why would I need your pillow?"

"Oh, you don't. I just think that for tonight, the three of us," her mother motioned between them and Laira, "should sleep together. We haven't done anything like that since you were little, and I miss that." Without another word, the Malfoy matriarch spun on her heals and walked out of the bedroom.

"Now wait a minute," Ranma tried to call after her. "I know we agreed to spend this month together, but c'mon! There's such a thing as spending too much time together, ya know!"

The portrait of Lina Inverse flashed Ranma a smirk. "I guess you should have put more thought into it. I mean, just agreeing to something without first reaching an agreement is stupid." The former sorceress ignored the glare from the cat-girl. "Because of your lack of planning, Narcissa's been the one thinking up all the _**FUN**_ things the both of you will be doing this month. However, just think of it as time you can spend getting to know the woman. Many of her ideals regarding blood purity and the like can be annoying, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't get close to her."

"I really hate it when you're right." Ranma replied as she sat cross-legged on her bed and scratched the upper part of her back with her tail. "The weird thing is that after spending some time with her, I think I discovered that there really is a kind of familial bond of sorts. I mean, if I let my guard down and relax, I feel comfortable and content around her. At least, I think that's a familial bond. You wouldn't think I'd have one since I never hung around her for very long."

Before Lina could respond, Ranma's bedroom door opened to reveal her mother. The woman was clad in a nightgown of her own and was clutching a pillow in her arm. It was easy to tell that she was trying her best to contain the almost child-like excitement she was having at the prospect of spending the night with her daughter and pseudo-granddaughter. In fact, Narcissa even tossed her pillow at Ranma before practically skipping over to the bed.

'Not to self: Try to spend more time with mum, otherwise she seems to build up excitement until she's practically childish.' Ranma thought to herself as she watched her mother hop into the bed and let out a giggle. It was really hard to believe that a woman who could be completely serious and mature could become so giddy and child-like just over the thought of spending time with her daughter. Ranma was starting to believe that she really had made the right choice, and that if she had never agreed to this month, the woman would have exploded from the emotional build-up.

"This is almost like a sleepover, isn't it dear?" Narcissa asked with a wide smile. "I haven't done things like that since I was a teenager. Of course, we didn't really sleep all that much during one. We would mostly tell stories, gossip, play some games, and do various other things of interest." A strange look crossed the blonde woman's face. "Oh, and there were a couple of times where we gave each other makeovers. Maybe I could give you one. We really do need to get your nails painted sometime. Of course, I do wonder if it'd be good to pierce your ears." Narcissa halted when she noticed the slight twitch in her daughter's eye. "Oh come on, sweetie. You should try a makeover at least once. We'll do it sometime this month."

Ranma placed her arms in an X formation. "No makeovers!" She stated with force. "The clothing you have me wear is one thing, but giving me a makeover is a completely different matter."

Narcissa gave a small pout. "Please, just once. After just one time, I won't try and make you do it again." Her daughter quickly shook her head negatively. "Well fine then, it's your loss." Narcissa stated as she crossed her arms. Internally, she decided that she wouldn't give up on the matter. "Anyway, it would be a good idea to go to sleep now. It seems and Laira already has the right idea."

Ranma turned her head to see that Laira was already snuggled up under the covers and fast asleep. Deciding to follow suit, the cat-girl dove under the covers. This left Narcissa as the last one to follow. As the blond woman made herself comfortable on the other side of her daughter, she decided to bring up one last subject matter for the night. "Lina."

"Huh?"

"I was wondering. Do you by any chance have a special someone that you like at school? If you do, I would like to hear. Even if it's a girl, I might even be able give you some tips and help."

"Nope."

"Oh, okay. I was just wondering. Because if you do, a makeover--"

"Goodnight, mum." Ranma forcefully interrupted.

"Oh alright, then." Narcissa said with a hint of disappointment. "Tomboy." She added in a teasing manner as she poked her daughter's nose.

'This is going to be a long night.' Ranma thought in exasperation.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Lucius Malfoy glanced out the window to see his wife sitting outside and watching their daughter, Lina. The young girl was deeply occupied with her morning training exercises. Said training exercises consisted highly of push-ups -- two hands, one handed, one-fingered, -- sit-ups, various other warm-up exercises, and light to medium martial arts katas. Laira would join the cat-girl during the lighter segments, but had to sit out during the harder ones. As he continued to watch his daughter train, he noticed that she gradually started to incorporate magic into her movements. The very act caused the blond wizard to pause.

'Lina has got to have tripped that stupid Trace Charm the Ministry uses countless of times, so why is it Fudge doesn't send anything to try and enforce it?' He may have been able to talk his way into the Minister of Magic's good graces, but that didn't mean the fool would ignore his under-aged daughter's use of magic. 'Perhaps I should ask Lina how she hasn't been accosted by the Ministry.' Lucius thought to himself as he stroked his chin and watched his daughter fire off an arrow of ice that managed to freeze the base of a tree. Lina's seeming dodge of the Trace wasn't the only thing on the former Death Eater's mind, though.

Rather, it was the subject of his daughter's powers and abilities. The girl's use of _**WANDLESS**_ magic could put most wizards and witches away without too much trouble. Lina's physical prowess was also astounding for one so young. Lucius had seen muggle body builders before, and he had no doubt that his daughter would hardly break a sweat in lifting the same amount as them. Lina also seemed to have a greater understanding of how the muggle inventions and way of life worked. The only problem, that Lucius was able to see, was that she was incredibly impulsive at times and had a habit of sticking her foot in her mouth.

'She would make a superb dark witch if she chose to go down that path.' The blond wizard thought with increasing interest. It was too bad that the girl didn't seem to desire such a path. Still, Lina did have a great deal of power at her disposal, and power -- no matter if the individual was good or evil -- meant that she would be able to have her own say in how many things went. It was power that often swayed the weak and susceptible, and his daughter had power. Of course, Voldemort had power as well, and he was apparently careless enough to be defeated by a baby. There was still a possibility that Voldemort was alive.

'Even if he is alive somewhere, it still doesn't change the fact that the great Lord Voldemort was defeated by a mere infant.' Lucius thought as he continued to watch his daughter train. Turning on his feet, he made his way towards the doorway. 'One would have to be a fool to not notice that Lina is still growing in power, and anyone who would try and threaten her will end up being dealt with. Even if she doesn't become an incredible Lady of Darkness, it would be healthier to stay in her good graces.' Lucius added as he stepped outside and headed towards his wife. His mental focus on the possible future of his daughter was filed away for later once he finally reached Narcissa. "Lina seems quite energetic this morning."

Narcissa nodded as she continued to watch the cat-girl train. "I've been meaning to see what she does for training, but she starts so early in the morning that I haven't been able to watch her. I finally managed wake up early enough to catch her." A smile appeared on the Malfoy matriarch's lips. "I must admit, she makes such it look graceful enough that it's hard to believe what she's practicing allows her to fight and beat people up." She turned her head to lock her blue eyes with her husband's grey ones. "Both of our children really are going to go onto great things. Draco's the heir who'll be in control of the family someday, and Lina will end up becoming a powerful witch in her own right."

"It's also reflected in their grades." Lucius added as he remembered the results from their children's exams. "Draco is performing splendidly as expected, and I'm also impressed by Lina's grades. Her only subject where she's having real problems with is Herbology, and I don't really consider that as an important class."

"Lina has told me that her goal is to become an Auror." Narcissa responded

A frown appeared on Lucius's lips. "I'm not sure I really like that. I'm not saying that I don't believe she won't be able to do it. I honestly think she could. It's just that-- well-- you know."

"I know." Narcissa answered. "As Lina has said, though, she wants to become an Auror for the excitement and to 'kick some ass'." At her husband's raised eyebrow, Narcissa giggled. "I never knew just how much of a tomboy she really was until now."

"You _**HAVE**_ been spending the past few days her. I'm assuming that the both of you have been able to properly get to know each other?"

Narcissa nodded and turned her attention back to their daughter. "It was obvious that she was very reluctant with the idea at first, but it seems that we managed to get past that hurdle and we are actually getting along nicely." The blonde woman's lips twitched for a moment. "That is, as long as I don't attempt to do anything overly feminine and girly with her." Narcissa gave off a giggle. "I managed to convince her to go shopping in London with me today, so we should end up having fun."

"I haven't seen you this happy since in a long time, Narcissa."

"I guess it really does show that much; doesn't it?" Narcissa asked as a tinge of pink appeared on her cheeks. She then watched as their daughter finished with her workout and started wiping the sweat off her face with a towel. "That was amazing, Lina. I didn't know that you were able to move so gracefully. You were also good too, Laira."

"Thanks!" Laira shouted

"Thanks mum." Ranma answered with her own slightly pinked cheeks as she toweled herself from her workout. Due to the red tank top she was wearing, her father was able to get a good look at the girl's muscles. They were formed just enough to show that she was in good shape and regularly trained. However, Lucius still wondered why the girl seemed to be so flat-chested.

"Maybe you could solve a question I recently came across, Lina." Lucius drawled out. "You were using magic in your training, and you've been using some magic over the past few days." At his daughter's nod, the blond man continued. "I'm finding it a little strange that you are performing magic when you shouldn't be able to without the Ministry contacting you with a warning to stop."

Ranma stared at her father with a look of confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Underage wizards and witches are forbidden from performing magic outside of school by the Ministry of Magic." Her father answered. "With as much magic as you've been using, it would have been guaranteed that you would completely activated the Trace Charm that all underage witches and wizards have placed on them. You would then obtain a warning letter telling you to stop."

The Trace Charm was news to the cat-girl. 'I have a charm placed on me?' After a moment of thought, Ranma remembered feeling as if she had some kind of spell on her that she couldn't shake off. The feeling nagged at her before she left for Hogwarts. When she was at school, the feeling was gone, but it returned when she went on winter break. 'Well, at least the first part of it. After visiting the moon, I never felt it again.'

"Lina," Narcissa began, knocking Ranma out of her thoughts, "once you go change out of your vest and into something else, we can leave on our shopping trip to London." As the cat-girl made her way inside, Narcissa called out to her. "Oh, and honey, make sure you change into a nice dress!"

"Damn it!"

A giggle escaped from her mother. "I'm only kidding, honey. I think you can wear whatever you want for today." The two Malfoy parents watched as their daughter's eyes lit up before she phased out of view. "Hopefully whatever she picks is going to be at least a little cute." Narcissa admitted. Her husband sweat-dropped, but chose not to say anything.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Can't we skip it and stop at the other places instead?" Ranma asked as she ate the ice cream sundae that she had gotten a few moments ago. Her mother had decided that it'd be easier to shop around in Diagon Alley instead of attempting to traverse the 'loud and hectic' muggle streets of London just to get to a few scattered -- but better quality -- stores. To plan out their schedule, Narcissa had decided that they should think about it over ice cream, and so the trio found themselves sitting at an outside table at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. Ranma had decided on a large strawberry sundae while Laira chose a three-scoop ice cream cone comprised of mint, chocolate, and vanilla. Narcissa -- to the surprised looks of Ranma and Laira -- had ordered an extra large banana split. The blonde woman embarrassingly explained to her daughter and pseudo-granddaughter that she just had a very large sweet tooth, and that when she ordered anything, she just couldn't help but 'order big'.

"Hmm… I don't know." Narcissa answered as she fought down a shiver after taking a bite of her banana split. "I understand that you don't care a great deal for clothes shopping and would rather visit a book store to look for some spell books." The blonde glanced down at Laira -- who was happily enjoying her own ice cream. "Laira did mention that she would like to try and find some clothing for herself. After-all, the only clothing she really has is from when you were young; so she would like to find some outfits she could call her own."

Ranma frowned and turned her attention to her daughter. "Since when have you liked dressing up?"

"After obtaining my humanoid form, momma." Laira answered between licks of her ice cream. "When I only had my other form, being dressed up made me feel silly and weird. Now that I have the ability to change into this form, it doesn't seem awkward, and it's kind of fun."

"Traitor." Ranma quick reply caused the cabbit-girl to pout cutely.

"Now, now," Narcissa said to the two in an attempt to lighten the mood. "Lina, we can stop at other stores after we browse for some outfits for Laira. You don't want her to end up going around in her current form nude, do you?"

Her daughter gave her a half-lidded stare. "She has fur, mum. I wouldn't exactly consider that to be nude."

"Never-the-less, I feel that she does need some new clothing." Narcissa disputed as she calmly ate a piece of banana. "You could use some new clothing as well. You definitely have a lack of it." Before her daughter could comment, Narcissa continued. "At least try one or two dresses. After that, we can look at trousers and tops."

Ranma thought over it for a moment before responding. "Well, I guess that seems fair." She finally admitted.

"Oi, Lina!" The trio at the table turned their heads at the shout, and Ranma was rather surprised to see that it was Nashigi -- along with Gosaria -- heading her way.

"Eh? What're you two doing here?" Ranma asked as she went back to eating her sundae. She wasn't expecting to see them until later when she would pick them up before heading to Japan.

"Gosaria's staying at my place for a couple of days." Nashigi responded as she reached over and attempted to steal a strawberry from her friend-sometimes-rival's treat. She didn't make it that far before said cat-girl's hand shot out and applied pressure on the large busted girl's hand. "I-- it seems as if you haven't lost your edge, Lina." Nashigi winced as she massaged her hand.

"Nashigi's mum decided to do some shopping for potion supplies and asked if we wanted to come. Nashigi's sister-- um-- what's her name again?"

"Amy" The other girl supplied as she attempted to sneak a strawberry from another angle and failed.

"Oh, yeah, how could I forget such a simple name?" Gosaria asked in embarrassment as she tapped her head with a fist. "Anyway, Amy decided to come as well." The blonde glanced between the trio sitting at the table. "So… what's going on with you? And is this woman your mother?"

"Yeah," Ranma answered as she quickly finished her sundae -- much to the annoyance of Nashigi. "This is my mum, Narcissa. Mum, these two are a couple friends of mine from Hogwarts. The big-breasted banshee is Nashigi Rosa, and the blonde is Gosaria Negia."

Nashigi puffed out her cheeks and placed her hands on her hips. "Hey, I'll have you know that my body is the type that a goddess would dream about, and my laughter makes the angels weep in jealousy."

"More like your body gives goddesses nightmares, and the only reason the angels weep is because your laughter is threatening to split their heads open." Ranma answered back with a smirk.

"You know, that does sound more accurate." Gosaria piped up with a finger on her chin. Nashigi gave the blonde a betrayed look. "Well, it's true."

A smile appeared on Narcissa's lips. "You three certainly do seem like good friends. The way you three bicker makes it seem as if you're close."

Nashigi wrapped an arm around Ranma's shoulder. "Of course we are. We hit it off perfectly the instant we met. In fact, as I recall, it was in the baths. Some girls were taunting Lina about her flat chest, but I--" She was interrupted due to a fist to the back of the head from Ranma.

"The only part of that story that was true was the part about being in the baths!" Ranma growled out before glancing at her mother. "In truth, Boobzilla here came into the baths with her wailing shriek of a laugh. The laugh made me angry, I blasted her with a fireball, she was impressed by it, decided to declare us rivals, and then just started hanging around me and Gosaria."

"Oh, oh, and we became friends when Lina stood up against my brother for me!" Gosaria shouted while waving her arm in the air. "My brother was picking on me and lied to me that our parents would be ashamed that I was put in Slytherin, but Lina stepped up and defended me."

"It was no big deal." Ranma replied as she leaned back in her chair. "How's the stuck-up bastard doing these days, Gos?

"Watch your language, honey." Narcissa replied. Ranma's cheeks reddened a little as the others giggled.

"Well, I think he's trying to make up for his attitude against me." Gosaria answered with a look that showed she was deep in thought. "I think he still holds a grudge against you for getting him kicked out, even though it was his fault."

'Par for the course.' Ranma thought to herself before noticing her mother's questioning look. "I'll explain later, mum."

"Ah, there you two are." The group turned around to see the sprinting form of Amy. "Why did you two just leave like that? I-- oh-- Miss Lina!" The younger girl shouted with widened eyes. "How have you been doing? I assume that you are still continuing your march along the path of justice?"

Ranma slapped a hand over her head as Narcissa blinked at the rather energetic girl. There was something about the two Rosa siblings that was gnawing at her, but what was it?

"Ooohohohohoho, well if it isn't Narcissa." The laugh caused both Ranma and her mother to shiver violently. The latter of the two's face, however, changed back and forth between fear and annoyance. The cause for the reactions was obviously from Amy and Nashigi's mother -- who became visible and made her way to the table. "My, my, I haven't seen you since just after leaving Hogwarts."

Narcissa's face seemed to go impassive at the sight of the other woman. "Felicia." She responded with a short and curt not. "What a… surprise it is to see you again. It seems that you still have that loathsome laugh that William's mother and grandmother taught you. Did you achieve your dream… job in _**muggle**_ law enforcement?"

Felicia sat down next to the blonde woman and gave her a pat on the shoulder. "You wound me, Narcissa. Whatever happened to the energetic, troublemaking, and rather stuck-up woman I knew? I mean, the stick couldn't have possible got wedged farther, right?"

The group of five watching the confrontation sweat-dropped as the two women traded insults and memories of old times at each other. It ended up coming to a boil when Narcissa unceremoniously slammed her hands onto the table and pushed herself to her feet. "You truly haven't changed, Felicia. You are still infuriating beyond anything else, and from the sound of things, you passed some of those very traits onto your daughter."

"And you still go by a bunch of old-fashioned, prejudiced beliefs when it comes to muggleborns, Narcy." Felicia answered back with a glare. "Face it, if everything stayed pure blood, the wizarding world would have died out a long time ago; or caused massive deformity due to incest." She shivered at the second part. "I can only hope _**YOUR**_ daughter doesn't pick up on your beliefs."

"Wish I had some popcorn." Ranma mumbled as she watched the two adults. "Watching this catfight is making me hungry." The other three girls, the cabbit, and the two mothers stopped and stared in her direction. "What? I'm serious here. If you two are going to fight or something, I should at least have some popcorn."

"You're part cat, and yet you're calling an argument between two completely human witches a catfight?" Gosaria asked as she scratched her head. "I'm afraid I don't understand your logic."

Ranma blinked for a moment before shaking her head. "Never mind."

Narcissa continued with her 'discussion' to Felicia. "_**MY**_ daughter is going to be the greatest witch in the world if she does so or not. In fact, I dare say that she is well on her way."

"Mage!" Ranma corrected.

"I wouldn't be so sure, Narcy." Felicia bit back with her own impassive stare. "My Nashigi has shown quite a talent in wandless magic."

"You can think whatever you want, Felicia." Narcissa commented with her face tense. "But I think it would be best if we stopped acting so… immature. We _**DO**_ need to set a good example for our children after-all. Some of us more than others, it seems." Gracefully turning around, Narcissa grabbed both her daughter and pseudo-granddaughter and walked off; leaving behind a glaring Felicia and confused Nashigi, Amy, and Gosaria.

As soon as they were out of sight, Narcissa relaxed and let go of Ranma and Laira. "Well, you two were obviously friendly." Ranma commented as she rubbed her wrist. "What'd she do, toss frog guts at you in school or something?" The comment earned a giggle from Laira. "Of course, it could have been the laugh, but I don't--"

"She's a muggle-loving blood traitor." Narcissa interrupted with a look of disgust on her face. Glancing down at her daughter and pseudo-granddaughter, the woman had to give a small sigh. "Sorry, I keep forgetting how much you seem to not know. Honestly, what _**IS**_ Washu teaching you?" Narcissa asked with a stern look.

'Thermal dynamics, quantum cellular automata, advanced robotics, and a whole mess of things that no normal person would ever understand.' Ranma thought in response. "Actually, I think I might know what you're talking about this time." The cat-girl supplied as she remembered some instances were some more… out-spoken students at Hogwarts decided to explain the 'pecking order' to her. "Still, I don't see why mingling with muggles, or coming from muggle families, is bad."

"It's because muggles are of inferior to those who are of magical decent. They have no ability of their own, and they are just wasting space on this planet. The fact that they feared magic users during the Middle Ages and hunted them down as abominations doesn't help them at all." The frown on Narcissa's lips seemed to grow wider. "Muggle-born wizards and witches aren't any better. They bring absolutely no strong blood into the magical world at all, and they push away and overwhelm the blood families that have been around for ages. They are like vermin that shouldn't exist, and are inferior in every way to those of stronger and purer blood. Those who mingle with mudbloods and muggles as equals are just as bad. They are nothing more than blood traitors."

"So, then, mum, by your logic, Laira and I are also vermin who shouldn't exist?" Ranma asked casually with a raised eyebrow.

Narcissa was taken aback by what her daughter had just said. "W-- what do you mean, honey. You're nothing like those kinds of people at all. How could you say something like that about yourself or Laira?"

Ranma gave a small shrug. "Well, I do have some muggle friends, and I also know a few muggle-born witches and wizards. Hell, the first person at Hogwarts I made friends with was a muggle-born witch I met here in Diagon when I purchased my supplies. So, by your logic, I'm a complete 'muggle-loving blood traitor."

Narcissa had absolutely no idea that her daughter's first Hogwarts friend was a muggle-born. Instead of complaining about that, though, she had another issue on her hands. "Now honey, I wasn't talking about you--"

"But grandma, what makes us different than anybody else?" Laira asked curiously. "Momma and I do mingle with muggles and muggle-borns after-all."

Ranma snapped her fingers. "Hey, Lai, by mum's own logic, we should also distance ourselves from those of lesser ability. If so, then everyone who can't destroy a whole lot of big crap should be beneath us." The cat-girl gave a small chuckle. "Cool, we could make some kind of club out of it. Nobody without the ability to at least destroy a small city block with little effort is allowed." Ranma glanced up at her mother. "Sorry mum, but it looks like you won't be able to join."

"But you two are different." Narcissa tried to explain with both shock and worry flashing across her features. "I'm your mother! I don't care about things like that." She didn't want to blow the seemingly good relationship she and her daughter had built so far during the month.

"Sounds kind of hypocritical to me, mum." Ranma observed as she placed her arms behind her head. "I mean, honestly, how do I know that you won't end up turning on me la--" The cat-girl halted when she noticed the formation of tears in the corner of her mother's eyes. "Hey, hold on now." Ranma waved her arms frantically as she attempted to prevent the oncoming tears. "C'mon, I'm not angry with ya or anything. In all honesty, I don't really care if you dislike a bunch of people. It's just that I think your views are a little _**TOO**_ extreme. I can't go and make ya knock it off, but I do think that ya should try and work on toning it down, and that--"

Narcissa couldn't help it as she busted into a fit of giggles. Several passer-byes decided to ignore the rather odd scene and continue on with what they were doing. "S-- Sorry dear, i-- it's just that your speech suddenly devolved in such a crude manner while you were frantically gabbing away in an attempt to keep me from crying." She noticed the slight pout she was receiving from her daughter and sobered up. "Sorry about that, dear." She managed to let out before her face became serious. "M-- Maybe I am overly prejudice when it comes to certain things like that. However, it was what I was told growing up, and I just can't change those views." Of course, she'd make an exception for her daughter and pseudo-granddaughter.

Ranma gave the woman a shrug. "Hey, I'm not telling you to completely overhaul your views and beliefs. As I said, it's none of my business. I just think it'd be better if you tried to tone it down. That kinda stuff could end up pissing off the wrong people someday. Believe me, having someone after your ass can be rather annoying." Of course, the cat-girl also found it exciting sometimes.

"I guess I could try to work on it." Narcissa answered with some reluctance. A moment later, she was hugging her daughter. "I'm so glad that I have such an understanding and thoughtful daughter." She gave Ranma a kiss on the forehead. "Even though you have a rather rude mouth and are rather boyish." She added with a slight frown.

"I'll take that as a compliment… I think." The cat-girl responded as her mother let go.

With a smile back on her lips, Narcissa grabbed hold of Ranma and Laira's hands. "What say we resume out shopping trip and head for the clothing store?"

"Lets!" Laira shouted as she punched the air with a fist.

"Eh, why not? I ended up agreeing to it anyway." Ranma answered in a low voice with her eyes closed. "Remember, only two dresses. Then I can look into trousers."

"I was hoping you'd forget that part." Narcissa answered with a pout.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After the wonders of clothes shopping -- in which her mother kept to her word, -- Ranma decided to make her way over to the small book shop to see if she could expand her on her knowledge of spells, potions, and other possible subjects that sounded interesting. Her mother had opted to stay behind with Laira for a little while longer before meeting up with her again. It made sense, really. The humanoid cabbit was honestly having fun trying on various outfits.

'This Lockhart guy sounds like your average self-absorbed pretty-boy.' Ranma thought in moderate disgust as she closed a book entitled _'Magical Me'_ byGilderoy Lockhart and placed it back on a shelf. Reading only a few pages of the book had left a bad taste in her mouth, and there were more photographs of the man scattered throughout the book than there should have been. If that wasn't bad enough, there were several different books authored by this Lockhart person. 'Is he a famous author or something?'

Deciding she didn't really care, Ranma continued on with her search for reading material. After a moment of searching, the cat-girl's interest was piqued by a book titled _'Curses and Counter-Curses: Learning About the Dangers and How to Protect Yourself'._ Picking it up and skimming through, Ranma noted that the text was quite comprehensive when it came to describing the effects of curses and how -- if you could -- to counter them. 'This could be useful for later.' The cat-girl thought to herself.

Continuing on her search, Ranma went on to find a few other interesting reading materials. _Magizoology: A Comprehensive Guide to Magical Beasts of the World, Spells for those Seeking a Challenge, _and _A Field Guide to Magical Plants of the Wizarding World._ She may have hated Herbology class, but it was still better to learn about what kind of magical plants out there in nature wanted to feast on her carcass or not. Besides, Washu would most likely want to catalogue the plants and creatures as well.

Finishing up on her book search, Ranma made her way over to the sales witch to make her purchase. "My," the sales witch began, "you must really be a seeker of knowledge, my dear." She commented as she came to the total cost of the books. "Young lady, I don't mean to pry, but since you entered my store, I couldn't help but wonder if those ears of yours are real."

"They're real." Ranma answered simply as she twitched and moved her ears. "So is my tail." She gave a swish of said appendage. "It's basically due to a bout of magic gone completely pear-shaped when I was younger." Ranma lied as she placed her money on the counter and grabbed her books. Of course, there _**WAS**_ the fact that getting caught at ground zero of her first Dragon Slave contributed to the outcome, so it wasn't a total lie. "I think I came out lucky. Hell, I could have ended up with slug parts!" The cat-girl gave a violent shiver at the thought.

"Well, I can honestly say that I think they suit you quite well, Miss." The sales witch commented with a smile. "Thank you for shopping; please come again."

As she made her way out of the book shop, Ranma nearly bumped into her mother and Laira as the two of them appeared in front of the entrance. The cat-girl's reflexes managed to keep her from colliding with the duo. "I already got some books, mum." Ranma stated as she joined the two outside. "So… where are we going now?"

'I didn't think she'd get such boring-looking reading material.' Narcissa thought to herself before directing a smile to her daughter. "How about we just take a look around until we find a place we might like?"

Ranma gave the woman a small shrug. "That sounds fine." When her heterochromatic eyes centered on Laira, Ranma noted the new outfit that the cabbit was wearing. "That's something you just bought, isn't it, Lai?"

"Yep!" The cabbit announced as she gave a small twirl. The outfit consisted of a dark purple dress with a roped corset-like design on the front. The collar was high and tied with a thin ribbon. The main dress part had a series of frills that circled around back, and the puffed sleeves also contained visible frills. The sleeves themselves were wide at the bottom, and Ranma could see a pair of gloves adorning her daughter's hands. Laira's legs were adorned with black stockings, and a pair of boots ended just below her knees. Finally, resting on top of the cabbit's head was a frilled ribbon Alice band. "So momma, how do I look?"

"You look-- um-- very… Gothic Lolita-ish, Lai." Ranma answered with a series of blinks. Just where did they find that outfit, and were there really any witches who would wear such a thing? "It actually looks good on you, though." A small tinge of pink appeared on Laira's cheeks as the cabbit gave her mother a bright smile.

'I should have gotten Lina one of those outfits. She would have looked so adorable.' Narcissa thought as she cursed herself for the missed opportunity. Tossing the thought out of her mind, the blonde woman reached into a bag that she was holding in her left hand. "Lina, the reason I let you go on ahead of us was so Laira and I could actually browse around for some kind of special gift to give you." Narcissa pulled out a small ornate box and handed it to the cat-girl.

As she received the box, Ranma glanced down at Laira. "So that's why you were being vague and unresponsive when I attempted to contact you mentally." The redhead accused as she examined the object in her hands.

"Guilty." Laira answered with a small smile. "Go on, momma, open it."

Ranma figured, as she unlatched the opening, that whatever was in the box was some kind of jewelry that she'd probably never wear. Still, she guessed it was the thought that counted, and figured that the best she could do would be to wear it for her mother and Laira until she could take it off later. Honestly, Laira knew that she didn't care for jewelry.

Once the lid was lifted, Ranma stared into the case and promptly blinked at what she saw. The object -- once the cat-girl had picked it up from its holding place -- was a locket. It was a pure silver heart-shaped locket on a silver chain. On the front of locket's surface was a red gem in the shape of a cat's silhouette with a red-flamed border on the sides. Turning the pendant around, Ranma noted the engraving on the back of it.

'_Lina, a very special daughter and mother.' _At the bottom, the names Narcissa and Laira were engraved into the silver.

Ranma was utterly speechless. She had absolutely no clue what to say as she stared at the object in her hand. Normally, she wouldn't spare any kind of jewelry a second glance due to it not holding any kind of interest to her. However, something attracted her to the gift from her mother and Laira, and she didn't really know what it was. "Thanks." It was all she could manage to say.

"Open it, momma!" Laira shouted. "Channel some magic into it and open it."

Complying, Ranma channeled a little magic into the pendant and watched as it flipped open. In both locket compartments, there was a photo. In the left compartment was a photo of Narcissa; in the right compartment was a photo of Laira. 'They even put their photos in it as well.' The cat-girl thought to herself. She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't notice when her mother plucked the locket out of her hand. She did notice, however, when the woman lifted her ponytail up and started fastening the locket around her neck.

"The locket also has another enchantment to it." Narcissa began as she held the locket in her hand. "You see, this locket is meant to store the photos of those you find close and precious to you. If you need to add another photo, then all you do is channel a little more magic into it. Once that happens, another compartment will appear for you to use. Laira and I wanted to get you something, and once we saw the image of the cat with a boarder of fire, we immediately thought about you. We know you don't normally care for jewelry--"

A smirk appeared on Ranma's lips. "I think I could probably make an exception this time, mum." Reaching down, she closed the locket and observed the pendant's surface. The flame border almost seemed to come alive when she added magic into it. 'It's kind of cool.' The cat-girl thought.

Narcissa and Laira gave each other a smile before the blonde woman placed a hand on the top of her daughter's head. "How about we head home? I think we've had enough of this place for a day."

"Yeah, I have a few things I need to do myself." Ranma answered with a nod. 'I need to get something to eat, do a little training, catalogue the information in these books onto my laptop, and some other things.'

'Are you going to see to that invention idea you were considering, momma?' Laira asked through their connection.

'Yeah, that's also on my list.'

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Err-- sis, what _**ARE**_ you doing?" Draco asked curiously as he halted at the entrance to his sister's room. Her bedroom door was opened, and so he had happened to glance in as he passed her room. Draco was rather confused to see the cat-girl sitting on the floor next to her bed and surrounded -- in neat little piles -- by junk. What was even stranger was the set of goggles his sister was wearing as she held what appeared to be a muggle screwdriver in one hand, and in the other some unknown device. If that wasn't enough, Draco noticed the note pad sitting on the floor in front of Lina, and that she would frequently jot something down _by writing with her foot._

Her clothes were rather simple as well. The cat-girl wore a simple white tank-top and a pair of black pants. Around her neck was the locket that she had received a couple days ago from their mother and Laira. "And just what is all this junk?" Draco asked. His sister had always been a little on the strange side, but this was pushing it.

Ranma raised her head and stared at her brother; her eyes hidden from view by the goggles. "It's not junk." She supplied as she set the screwdriver down. "It's all part of an invention project I've been working on from time to time." It was also part of a long-term assignment that Washu had given to her. The project had no due date for it to be done. The diminutive genius had assigned her student to create her own invention. It didn't matter what kind of creation it was, just that Ranma created it herself. The basis for this was to see if Ranma had the skill and ability to continue onto another area of learning: inventing.

It was something that Ranma was actually looking forward to. Washu had mentioned on occasion that once she managed to learn how to properly invent and create, she could go on to bigger and better things. Some of which would include inventions that could end up creating plenty of -- somewhat harmless -- mayhem and explosions. Ranma had no clue why, but the very idea of actually being able to create things that could go boom -- especially if said explosions were huge -- gave her a feeling of excitement.

'It looks a lot like muggle junk to me.' Draco thought with a visible frown. "Well, then, what is this invention project of yours?"

"This!" Ranma announced as she held up the object she was working on so that her brother could see.

Draco had to blink several times at the sight of the object. "Lina, it's a cat head." The blond boy answered hesitantly. "A…happy _**SMILING**_ cat head the size of a small bludger." He honestly wondered if his sister had finally lost it.

"Well, yeah, it is." Ranma admitted as she stared at the bludger-sized cat head. It was a faint red in color with a light pink nose. There were four-inch long whiskers on each cheek, and its smile was wide. The eyes were closed in a happy arch style, and the cheeks had small dark red circles paint on. The very bottom of the head also had a pair of small paws in a begging pose. "Still, it turned out great."

"Yeah, but what _**IS**_ it?" Draco asked. "Some kind of useless muggle object?"

"Hardly," Ranma answered with a cocky smirk. "Maybe it does require the use of some muggle items to put together, but this is beyond what possibly 95 of them are even capable of doing." Reaching down, the cat-girl grabbed a hair-band and placed it on her head. Part of the band entered her right cat ear, and the bottom of the band extended to Ranma's cheek. From there, a part that looked like a microphone rested near her lips. "Alright, Mini-Kitten Bot Version 25," her brother raised an eyebrow at the number. "The other 24 either fell apart or exploded, okay?" The cat-girl grumbled before tossing her creation into the air. "Activate!"

As soon as the words left her mouth, the invention halted in midair. It hovered there for a few moments before its eyes opened to reveal a pair of large blue eyes. The robotic cat head glanced around the room before settling its sights on Ranma. The newly created device moved and hovered in front of the cat-girl's face. "_**Mini-Kitten Bot ready to serve, Mistress Lina."**_ It responded in an energetic and childlike voice. _**"I will try my best to serve whatever needs you desire!"**_

"Cool, it was a success!" Ranma announced joyfully. She had figured that the entire thing would be a failure… again. "Ya know, I think you need a name. Mini-Kitten Bot is too much to say. How's the name Ein? It's German for one, and you are the first successful mini-bot."

The robotic cat head thought for a moment before smiling. _**"I like it! From now on, I shall be known as Ein."**_ Ein turned its attention to the other person in the room. _**"Mistress Lina, your guest seems to be acting rather odd."**_

Ranma blinked before turning to glance at Draco. Her brother was staring at Ein with a look of outright shock. "Hey, bro, you feeling okay? You seem to kinda be spacing off."

"What in the bloody hell is that thing?" Draco asked as he pointed at the floating robot. "It can fly and talk like some kind of magical creature, but you created it using muggle methods!"

Ranma rolled her eyes at the blond boy, but he couldn't see the action due to the goggles obscuring the redhead's eyes. "I told ya, this is beyond the scope of what at least 95 of muggles on this planet are capable of. I'm just that damn good." Ranma flashed her brother another cocky grin. "Basically, though, it's a robot. It's a being made out of mechanical parts and other materials. At the moment, Ein's features only extend to floating, talking, and providing video feedback to my laptop. However, I have ideas of other features I could add to its arsenal." Of course, she'd probably have to end up getting Washu's help for quite a few of the ideas.

Draco had absolutely no clue what the girl was talking about. "I doubt our parents will be pleased with the idea of you tinkering with muggle-like technology; no matter how advanced or whatever it is." He finally managed to let out as he stared at the floating robot.

"Yeah, yeah," Ranma answered with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Mum doesn't really like the idea of me messing around with muggle stuff, but she doesn't say anything. Pops would probably be a hard-ass about it, though, and you're already as stubborn as an ass when it comes down to muggle and muggle-borns as it is."

Her brother gave her a glare. "You know, if you weren't my sister, I'd give you a good punch for that 'ass' comment."

"We both know that I'd pound you into the ground before you could even make a move, anyway." Ranma supplied with a smirk. "Of course, you're still free to try, though."

Draco placed his hands in a warding gesture. "No way, I value my health too much to attempt it. Can you imagine what people will say if they find out that I was beat up by my own sister? My reputation would be destroyed!"

"What, the one where a load of people think you're a stuck-up and spoiled little rich boy?"

"No!" her brother replied hotly. "The reputation I have for being a highly respected member of a pure-blood family, and the kind I have for my excellent leadership skills and magical talent. And someday, I'll also reveal to the world just how much of a fake their _**precious**_ Potter is."

Ranma's head perked up in interest as she deactivated Ein. "So it's a rivalry of sorts, eh?" The cat-girl asked as her tail swished and her ears twitched. "Awesome, maybe someday you two will end up meeting in a duel of -- non-lethal -- magic! Man, watching a magical fight would be so cool, what with all the possible explosions and stuff." Ranma then proceeded to store her mini-bot away, remove the goggles away from her eyes, and stretch her body to remove a couple kinks. "Jeez, sitting in one spot for so long makes my muscle joints stiff."

"I'm pretty sure we have some muscle-soothing paste somewhere." Draco commented. "Dobby--"

"Nah, let's not bother the little guy." Ranma interrupted as she cracked her neck -- an action that caused her brother to wince.

"Why not? He's a house elf, and it's his job -- along with other house elves -- to do whatever his masters tell him to do." The blond boy crossed his arms. "And besides, Dobby does seem rather fond of you and would _**GLADLY**_ do anything you order him to do."

Ranma placed her arms behind her head. "That's because I don't treat him like dirt." She simply said before yawing and showing off her fangs. "Anyway, I don't need any muscle-soothing paste. I'll just go outside and perform some light stretching and exercising. That'll allow me to relax my body muscles, and after that, I'll start a little training."

"Is physical exercising your answer to everything?"

"Of course it's not." Ranma responded with a blink. "There's also eating, sleeping, magic training, and a host of other things."

"I'm sorry I asked." Draco grumbled.

His sister halted in the doorway before whipping around. "Hold on, I almost forgot." Ranma walked back into her room and proceeded to pick up the tools and parts that she used in her tinkering. After placing the tools in storage, setting the writing pad on her desk, and setting her pencil in a pencil holder, the cat-girl turned around and made her way for the door. "Couldn't just let it all lie there in a mess, ya know?"

Draco stared at her for a moment before turning his attention to the room. The room was as neat and tidy as one could get. Objects were either placed in stacks, bins, racks, shelves, or baskets. The bed itself was also neatly made. "You do realize that you'd make an excellent house elf if you were one, right? You have a thing for keeping rooms mess-free."

"Hey, I just hate things looking like a pigsty. When a place is cleaned, it's easier to find something you're looking for, and there's also less a threat of tripping over something." Really, was there anything wrong with keeping a place clean?

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma scratched her ear as she glanced through the book _Curses and Counter-Curses._ The book detailed a majority of curses, but some of the more extreme ones refused to give the instructions on how to perform them. An example of this was a trio of spells known as the _Unforgivable Curses_. The book went on to explain the history, affects, possible counters, and misc. tidbits of information. As she read through the entry, Ranma began to understand just _**WHY**_ they were outlawed and so dangerous.

She was, of course, familiar with the Avada Kedavra curse. Anyone would be if they were previously killed by the blasted thing. It was slightly disheartening that there was no known counter to the curse, and that the only real way to prevent the curse would be to either dodge or use an object to block it. About the only helpful info regarding the spell was that the color was a green hue.

'That really is one monster of a curse.' Ranma thought with a frown. 'You'd think these people would try and come up with a shield to fight against it or something.' The very idea set the cat-girl's mind rolling. It was possible that she could create a shield of some kind, but without actually knowing how strong the Avada Kedavra was, coming up with a shield would be next to impossible. However, when was she one to give up?

"Hey, momma," Laira began as she held up a small object. The cabbit was in the midst of going through the storage space that she and Ranma shared, and that was when she found a certain small golden key that the both of them all but forgot about. "Isn't this the thing we found on the moon that took us to that Sailor Pluto lady?"

Ranma snatched the key from her daughter via her tail. The cat-girl then proceeded to toss the key from her tail and into her hand. Lazily, Ranma examined the object for a few moments before tossing it back to Laira. "Yeah, it's the key that took us to meet Pluto."

After jumping to grab hold of the key, Laira focused her attention onto her mother as the redhead continued reading. "How about we go and visit Pluto? From how boring things sounded last time, it'd be good to liven things up around there."

Closing her book and giving it some thought, Ranma soon let a smirk grace her lips. "Hey, why not? It's been a while since we were there, and I could use at least some excitement before the month is up. Besides, everyone else is currently asleep, and so we can leave and get back before any questions are asked." And perhaps she could convince Pluto to have a little spar with her. The woman clearly had some skill during their scuffle over seven months ago.

Leaping off of her bed, the cat-girl snatched the key from her daughter a second time. Holding it in the palm of her hand, Ranma found herself at a loss on how to get it to activate. "Err-- Lai, what did we do last time to get it to work?"

"I don't think we did anything." Laira responded as she tilted her head. "I think we felt some magic from it, you picked it up, and it then took us to Pluto."

"Well, I don't feel any magic coming from it now, so maybe I have to channel magic into it?" As soon as she had closed her hand around the key and concentrated on her magic, both she and Laira suddenly started to feel a strange -- yet familiar -- pull. "I think that did it."

"Yeah, now we can visit Sailor Pluto at the Gates!" Laira stated. Once the sentence had left the cabbit's lips, the golden key pulsated and enveloped the two in a blinding gold light. The light lasted only for a moment, and after it died down, the duo were able to see that they were now standing in the familiar void-like plane that the Senshi of Time resided in.

"This place sure hasn't changed." Ranma commented as she glanced around the flat void that was teeming with mist. In a way, the cat-girl wondered if the location was the actual fourth dimension believed to exist within the space-time continuum that Washu had her begin learning about two years ago. "Let's go see if we can find her before she jumps the gun and attempts to attack us."

Laira nodded and stayed at the redhead's side as the two walked through the misty zone. Since everything looked the same, they really had no idea if they were going in the right direction or not. After what seemed like forever, the duo could finally make out a lone figure standing next to a pair of large gates. As they closed in on their destination, they almost found themselves face-faulting at the sight of the great and mysterious protector of the Space-Time Gates.

The guardian of time was sound asleep. Her staff was firmly planted into the ground, and that allowed her to lean against it as she slept. It was obvious that even when she was asleep, she still had the very desire to attempt her duty. The very sight would have seemed impressive to her two guests, but the presence of a small snot bubble ruined the entire image.

"I guess when you're by yourself for so long, you don't really care if you look embarrassing." Ranma supplied as she scratched the back of her head. A smirk soon appeared on her lips as an idea came to her. Ignoring her daughter's protests, the cat-girl levitated to ear level of the green-haired Senshi and began whispering into her ear. "Don't look now, Pluto, but you are stuck on a thin platform above a bottomless pit."

The Senshi of both Time and the Underworld gave a twitch in her sleep.

"Oh no, the platform just gave way! Watch out, you are falling down into the blackness. Falling and falling without anything to save you!" Ranma watched as the older woman started to mumble in fear. "Falling… falling… right into the mouth of a giant creature who's going to swallow you whole!"

Ranma then decided to add something else with a loud and slightly deep voice. _**"BWAHAHA, I WILL EAT YOUR HEART!"**_

Sailor Pluto woke up with a massive jolt. "AAAAAHHHH!!!!" She managed to stop screaming after jerking her head around to see that she was still in the void she considered home. She was about to sigh in relief when the sound of laughter reached her ears. Honing in on the source, Pluto was able to see that it was Ranma. The cat-girl was flat on her back and laughing her ass off.

"Y-- You should h-- have seen your face! I-- I can't believe that you s-- screamed like a little girl!" Ranma was laughing so hard that she had tears coming out of the corner of her eyes. Next to her, Laira was holding her face in her hand and sighing.

Sailor Pluto's first reaction was to blush in indignation. Her second reaction was to lose herself in a temper that she never knew she had. "How dare you sneak up on me like that and scare the wits out of me?!" She growled as Ranma continued laughing. "Has anyone ever told you that you're a real jerk?"

The cat-girl's laughter finally settled down, and she gave the woman a shrug. "Yeah, I used to get that a lot. I still do sometimes." Using her pinky to clean out her ear, she continued. "So it's nothing new."

Taking a deep breath, Sailor Pluto managed to regain her temper and dignity. "How did you manage to find your way back?" Her answer was obtained when Laira held up one of the golden keys that allow transportation to the realm. "I told you before that this place is forbidden to those who shouldn't be here. Yet here you are, and this time it was on purpose."

"Jeez, don't get your fuku in a knot, P." Ranma answered back in both a casual and dismissive tone. "We were bored and decided to drop in to see how you were doing in your eternally boring job of guarding the gates. You should be happy to have at least _**SOME**_ company."

Pluto gave the girl an icy glare before letting loose a tired and weary sigh. "I'll admit, having some contact with other people after thousands of years is nice. Standing here, day after day; month after month; year after year, in complete solitude -- except for the rare visitor -- with nothing but the gates is enough to make someone weary."

"I don't think I like the sound of this job." Laira commented with a shiver. "How can you stay sane?"

Ranma didn't wait for an answer before asking her own question. "Jeez, what's so important about guarding those gates anyway? I doubt any normal person is going to randomly appear and ask to use them. Can you view everything that goes on around you or manipulate events?"

"I can only view what the gates desire me to see. To freely use the gates in such a way would have dire consequences. I am also not allowed to manipulate events or the doings of people in the real world. If there is an event that could have incredible disastrous effects to the very dimensions and timelines themselves, then I am free to do something so long as I am not fully involved. I am a guardian, and that is all I do." Unless she gained her orders from a certain moon child, that is.

"Damn," Ranma began, "at least tell me that -- as the Senshi of Time -- you can at least control time in _**SOME **_way. If not, then this really is one crappy job."

"Oh, I have the ability to stop time." Pluto stated before frowning. "But to do it is forbidden. If I dared stop time for even a moment, my very life would be forfeit." The Senshi of Time received depressed looks from her visitors. "I can also often feel slight ripples that occur whenever a mode of time travel that doesn't involve the gates is used. Since the plane we are currently stationed in is located close to the nexus that is the fourth dimension, any form of time travel will cause a slight reaction."

"Really?" Ranma asked in interest. Washu had only glossed over some details in the Space-Time Continuum idea when she felt that the cat-girl could wait a little longer before getting to the real meat of the subject. "So does time travel have any negative affects?"

Sailor Pluto answered with a slight shake of her head. "If alternate means of time travel are used sparingly, then there would be no negative affects upon the dimensions. However, if there's too much time-travel being used without rest, then a slight weakening in dimensions could occur over time. If left unchecked, the issue could grow even worse."

"That sounds bad." Laira commented with a frown. "You don't feel it a lot, do you?"

The green-haired woman shook her head. "Not a lot, but I do feel it at times. That means there are people out there with access to time travel that they most likely shouldn't have. There's a reason why time travel is dangerous and should only be done sparingly with the correct means. The possibility of someone going back in time and changing an important event could have severe consequences with both the present and reality."

"Well, if you're stuck here, you can't really do anything. Can you?" Ranma asked. She then noticed the calculating look the Senshi of Time was giving her. "Why are you-- wait, no way. I am not going to play errand-girl to your time-travel problem."

"I think it's the least you can do, Ranma." Sailor Pluto answered. "You don't have to go out of your way to search for any time travel items. However, if you do come across any, then I would appreciate it if you could confiscate them so that there's no danger to the time stream."

Thinking it over for a moment, Ranma decided that it wasn't really all that bad of a deal. "As long as I don't have to go out of my way. If I do find them, it'll because I stumbled across the item."

"That's a fair deal." Pluto answered with a kind smile. "I wasn't expecting you to go on a quest anyway. Just knowing that you'll do this for me and the safety of the dimensions is good enough."

"What can I say?" Ranma asked with a shrug. "I can be just too good of a person sometime."

"Momma…" Laira let out with a groan.

Pluto let a rare giggle escape her lips as she gave the cat-girl a small pat on the head. "Perhaps I will allow you two to visit whenever you get the chance. Both of you make me feel as if a large weight has been removed from my person." Her features soon turned into a glare as she glanced at Ranma. "Just don't you ever again pull a stunt like you did earlier while I was sleeping. If you do, I won't be the one held responsible if you get hit with a Dead Scream."

"But it's so much fun to see you scream like a little girl." Ranma commented with an amused smirk as the woman's glare seemed to only harden. "What, ya wanna fight? C'mon old lady, let's see which one is the better fighter."

"Old lady?" Pluto asked with a tightening of her lips.

"Well, you _**ARE **_thousands of years old, right?" Ranma added just before she was whacked in the head by the Garnet Rod. "Alright, jeez, I was only yanking your chain." The cat-girl rubbed the spot on her head where she had been hit. "Anyway, there's another reason I came. I was in need of someone to spar with, and since you didn't seem to be half-bad in our confrontation a few months ago, I was wondering if you'd agree to it."

"Normally I'd have to outright refuse a request such as that." The green-haired woman answered evenly. "My task of guarding the gates being much too important to partake in such a thing." A slight smile appeared on the woman's lips. "However, I am entitled to some personal time of my own for at least a couple hours each day. That means that I suppose I could spare some time to spar with you. My fighting ability is rather rusty after years of not using it, but that doesn't mean I lack any."

Ranma's eyes widened as a thought occurred to her. "Hey, Pluto, what about going to the toilet? The thought just came to me. Surely you'd have to relieve yourself sometimes, but--"

Pluto placed a hand over the cat-girl's mouth as a blush appeared on her cheeks. "My needs of food and relief are provided for me when I am in real need for them. Both are rare occurrences due to my guardianship sustaining me without those. If I were to leave this area, then I would, indeed, require food and relief just like a normal person. That is all you need to know."

Laira glanced up at her mother with a quirked eyebrow. "Momma, how did a question as weird as that ever enter your mind?"

"Hey, I was just curious." Ranma answered in defense. "There's no toilet around here, and since everyone has to go relieve themselves sometime, I had to ask."

Pluto merely placed a hand onto her face and silently groaned.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Are you sure you don't want to spend a few more days here at home, honey?" Narcissa asked with a frown. Today marked the end of their month together, and the blonde woman was outright reluctant to let it end. Her daughter had already said her goodbyes to Draco and Lucius, but Narcissa wanted to get a few more words in.

Ranma answered with a nod. "Yeah, Laira and I still need to go and spend some time with Washu." Part of her actually wanted to stay and get to know her mother some more. She honestly preferred spending time with Narcissa more than she did with Nodoka, and figured it had something to do with the former having better parental qualities than the latter. With Nodoka, Ranma was reluctant to actually open up to the woman and lower her guard. Narcissa, however, had managed to bring out the exact opposite in the cat-girl.

"Well," Narcissa began as she bit her lip, "maybe we can do this again next summer. We could plan out other things to do."

Ears twitching as she thought about it, her daughter let a smile appear on her lips. "Maybe we can, mum. I actually like that idea. What do you think, Lai?"

"I like it too!" The cabbit announced from her position on Ranma's shoulder.

After her mother got one last hug in, the cat-girl phased out of view and watched -- from her new perch in a tree -- as Narcissa stood in the doorway for a few more moments before reluctantly entering the house and shutting the door. Ranma then hopped out of the tree and sighed. The moment was getting a tad too emotional, and she just had to quickly get out of there.

"Alright, Lai, transform into ship form." Before they could even start for Japan, they had to go and pick-up three passengers. Of course, that also meant that she'd have to tell Hermione a short, modified background. "She's going to outright flip when she finds herself on board a real space ship." Ranma admitted with an amused chuckle.

xxA.Nxx

This chapter is finally finished. It took an incredible amount of time to work on, but it's finally finished.


	21. Return to the Masaki Home

Wild Magic

Wild Magic

Ranma 1/2, Slayers, Harry Potter, and any other series used in this fanfic are owned by their respective creators/publishers/whatever

Thanks to CyberSkaarj and people of Fukufics for pre-reading.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Chapter 21

From on-board the command deck of Laira, Ranma stared into the holographic view screens that depicted images of the English borough of Poole. While she could take her time and admire the scenery of the coastal town, Ranma was more interested in locating Gosaria's place of residence. The blonde had mentioned that her family lived near the Poole Park Lake, and that their home had a minor enchantment that kept the place from being noticed by most muggles. The only problem -- that Ranma now figured out -- was that Gosaria had been a little too vague on the details.

"I should have asked her to be more specific. A red roof and a large flower garden is not enough to go by." Ranma stated to herself as she moved some of the holographic screens. "Laira, I'd like you to scan the area around the lake for any trace of concealment magic, or similar magical signatures that stand out."

Laira's voice sounded from all around her. "Scanning." The holographic screens changed to show a percentage meter that depicted how far along the scanning process was. It wasn't long until the scan was complete. "Momma, I'm picking up 10 different types of magic around the lakefront area, but only one of those signals is being used to conceal a house."

"Position all view screens onto the house." Complying with the order, Laira changed the viewings in the holographic panels to depict a well-kept home with a red roof and large flower garden. Around the house was a six-foot tall brick fence. "That's most likely her house." Ranma stated with a nod. "Good job on the scan, Lai."

"Thanks, momma!" The cabbit ship echoed cheerfully. "Should I remain here in ship form while you collect Gosaria, or should I go with you?" She was currently in stealth mode, so there was no issue of being seen by anyone around the area.

"Stay here. I doubt it'll take all that long to go down and grab Gosaria." Ranma answered after a moment of thought. After-all, there was no need to change forms just for a few minutes.

Without another word, the cat-girl vanished from inside the cabbit space ship and reappeared on the ground right in front of the doorway. Turning her head to check her surroundings, Ranma caught sight of a lone gnome curiously poking its head out from inside a bush. Deciding to turn her attention back to the door in front of her, Ranma quickly lifted her fist and gave the wood a few knocks. She didn't have to wait too long before the door opened to reveal a slightly plump woman of average height with strawberry-blonde hair and clear azure eyes.

The woman's eyes immediately locked onto the young girl, but her attention was soon stolen away by the red-furred ears resting on said girl's head. After what seemed like a rather awkward silence, the woman tore her gaze from the ears and glanced downward to catch the sight of a swishing red tail. "Red cat ears and a tail." The woman mumbled softly before turning her attention directly onto her guest. "You wouldn't happen to be named Lina Malfoy, would you?"

'At least I don't have to introduce myself.' Ranma thought to herself before responding with a nod. "Yeah, I'm Lina Malfoy; here to collect Gosaria for our trip." The cat-girl halted for a moment before continuing. "That is, assuming that she _**DID**_ mention that she'd be leaving on a short trip."

Gosaria's mother gave a small laugh. "Don't worry, she may forget things at times, but she still remembered to tell us." The woman placed a finger to her cheek. "I'm sorry to say, though, that my daughter is still asleep. I've already tried waking her up two times, but as you can tell…"

A frown flashed across Ranma's features, but it was replaced by a catty grin a split second later. "Mrs. Negia, would it be alright if I tried waking her up? We really do need to get going, and having her waste time like this isn't good."

"If you think you'll be able to succeed; by all means go ahead." The woman answered as she let their guest in. "You'll find her room on the second floor on the left. Her door has her name on it, so you can't miss it."

"Thanks." Ranma answered with a smile before making her way to her destination. The inside of the home had the appearance of the average wizarding family residence. There was no TV, or other advanced electronics beyond what normal wizards would have, to be seen. There were, of course, photographs and portraits with moving images adorning the walls.

After reaching the top of the stairs, it wasn't long before the redhead came to her friend's bedroom door. Like Gosaria's mother had stated, the girl's name was on the door; written on what appeared to be a name-plate shaped like a rabbit. Under Gosaria's name was a little doodle of her head giving a peace sign.

Once she finished examining the door, Ranma placed her hand onto the knob and gave it a turn. She then gave a simple push and slowly opened the door before peeking in. What she immediately saw made her left eye twitch. Gosaria's room was a complete mess. There were clothes and books scattered across the floor, and on the girl's table were more books, some turned-over plush toys, a tipped over bottle, and her wand. Near the corner of the room, Gosaria's school trunk was wide open with a few items hanging over the side.

"H-- How could somebody sleep in such a pigsty?" Ranma asked herself before immediately creating a doppelganger. Her double knew what to do and immediately started tidying up the room as the real Ranma made her way over to her sleeping friend. The cat-girl noted that the blonde -- who was wearing a light pink nightgown -- was completely tangled in her bed sheets, and in her arms was a jellyfish plushie that she was snuggling. On the side of her mouth was a thin trail of drool.

Ranma had to admit that the blonde looked downright content, however, they did have a schedule to keep. The cat-girl allowed another catty grin to spread across her face as she thought about a fun way to wake up her friend.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A loud and sudden explosion -- followed by a high-pitched female shriek -- from upstairs caused Gosaria's family to nearly jump out of their skin. Gosaria's father, Berkley, immediately jumped to his feet with a look of worry etched into his features. "What happened? What was that?!"

"I-- I think it was Gosaria's friend waking her up." His wife, Greta, answered as the sound of Gosaria's whining about how her friend should have used a gentler way of waking her was heard. "It sounds like our daughter's fine, though."

"I didn't think Nashigi would resort to such loud and obnoxious explosions." Quintinsy stated with a frown. "You'd think her laugh would be enough."

"Oh," his mother stated with a little reluctance. "It's not that Nashigi girl that's here. Her other friend, Lina, is here to get her."

Quintinsy slammed his hands down onto the table as he shot to his feet. A look of anger was sketched within his features. "Mum, how could you let _**HER**_ set foot into our house? She's the one who got me tossed out of school! _**SHE**_ caused a smear to appear that'll haunt me for the rest of my life!"

"If I'm not mistaken," his father began while scratching his chin, "it was _**YOU**_ who lost control of yourself and became a raving nut. Just be thankful that you were in your last year, avoided some time in Azkaban, and that the Minister of Magic and that rather toady-looking woman decided to be strangely merciful and turn the favor to allow you to keep your wand."

"If you were in any of the previous years, your wand would be taken and broken into pieces." Greta added with a frown. "Not that I would blame them if they did, really. You did put pressure on, and tried to outright attack, a young girl. You also tormented your sister during the first part of her school year. Really, dear, the things you did were rather mean and cruel."

Quintinsy remained standing, but he did remove his hands from the table. "I apologized to Gosaria, remember?" He mumbled as he turned his head. "I was disappointed that she ended up in _**THAT**_ house, and then _**THAT**_ girl she considers a friend was just so-- so-- _**aggravating **_and _**annoying**_!"

"You didn't have to go and blow me up, Lina." Gosaria's voice announced in a whine as she and Ranma walked into view. The blonde looked slightly singed, but looked fine none-the-less. She had also changed out of her nightgown and into a pink blouse and black skirt.

Ranma shrugged as a smirk appeared on her lips. "Why not? We both know how you can sleep through almost anything."

"But it hurt, and you singed my plushie!"

"You'll be fine." Ranma answered simply. Turning her head, she caught sight of a glaring Quintinsy. "Oi," the cat-girl stated as she raised a hand and gave the teen a lazy wave. "Long time no see, Quin. How are ya doing? No hard feelings about getting tossed out of Hogwarts after going crazy I hope." The answer Ranma had received was a rather icy glare. "Oh c'mon," she began as she walked over to the boy and gave him a rough pat on the back. "So you couldn't finish your last year of Hogwarts. At least you didn't have to put up with being cooped up in a large castle any longer."

The dark-haired teen knocked Ranma's hand away. "I'm lucky that I even managed to keep my wand thanks to you. That doesn't matter too much, though. I'll have to try damn hard now to get the ministry position I want that I could have easily gotten if I had finished Hogwarts with full N.E.W.T.s!"

"Why would you want a bunch of newts? I doubt they'd make good pets." Ranma asked with a curious blink. This earned her some looks from the Negia family. "What?"

"N.E.W.T.s stands for Nastily Exhausting Wizard Tests." Quintinsy answered in annoyance. He figured that the girl should at least know _**THAT **_much. "They are tests taken during seventh year that would help those who pass to get jobs in the Ministry of Magic. Since I wasn't able to participate in taking them," He spared a glare in Ranma's direction, "I'll have to rely on my O.W.L. test scores and hope I'll get lucky and obtain the job I _**DO**_ want." With one more glare at the cat-girl, the dark-haired teen pushed past her and made his way towards his room.

'He's sure gotten friendly since I last saw him.' Ranma thought sarcastically before turning towards Gosaria's parents. "Well, I think that's our cue to leave, so we'll--"

Gosaria's father decided to interrupt her. "Hold on a moment, young lady." He began with a calculating look in the cat-girl's direction. "You are a daughter to the Malfoy's, and so I want to know. What are your views on muggles, muggle-borns, and those who mingle with muggles? What do you think about them?"

Ranma blinked before answering immediately. "They're alright people, and I don't see anything wrong with them. Sure, they can't use magic, but hey, I can do some crazy crap that nobody else can really do. If magic folk want to mingle with muggles, then okay. I don't see why it matters." Her ears twitched for a moment. "Eh, why did you want to know?"

Berkley immediately shot to his feet and walked straight over to the young cat-girl. Said cat-girl tensed a little in preparation for if the man tried something. Ranma then blinked in confusion when the man grabbed her in a joyful embrace that caused the fur on her tail to stand on end. "Ha-ha, you really are a good kid! I approve of your friendship with my daughter."

"Wha?" Ranma intelligently asked as she pushed herself from the hug.

"I had fears that you might have the same thought patterns on muggles and muggle-borns that your parents and a great deal of older 'noble' families have. If that was true, then I would forbid my daughter from being friends with you. You see, she's rather-- how shall I say it-- impressionable."

"Daaaad!" Gosaria pouted. "I am not."

Ignoring his daughter's protests, Berkley continued on as he gave Ranma a pat on the head. "But your views are open-minded, and I like that! You being friends with my daughter is alright in my book!" He finished with a thumb's up and wide smile.

"Uh… thanks?" Ranma asked with a sweat-drop. She then watched as Gosaria's mother sighed and gave her husband a small slap to the back of his head. "Anyway, if you don't mind, we have to leave so we can pick up two other friends."

Greta gave her a kind smile as she pushed her husband back into his seat. "Then I guess we shouldn't keep you waiting any longer. Make sure my daughter stays safe, and I hope you can visit again, Lina." After watching the two girls leave, she turned her attention to her husband. "You really do need to stop acting like that every time Gosaria makes a friend. You end up scaring most of them when you act batty like that."

"But Greta," Her husband responded with a pout, "I don't want our little girl to get the wrong ideas in her head!" The look Greta gave him caused him to instantly shrink back. "Yes dear, I'll try to stop doing things like that." He always wondered how his wife could do things like that to him.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Gosaria was in complete awe as she glanced around the interior of the command deck of Laira. She was always curious to know what Laira's ship form actually looked like, and now that she was able to see it, she was absolutely speechless. The entire room was like one big purple oval with windows on all sides of said room showing the outside. In fact, one of the first actions the blonde did was run to a window and look out; causing her to almost become dizzy.

At first, Gosaria was curious as to why there was nothing in the room, but then she watched as a comfy chair appeared from the floor itself and allowed Ranma to sit in it. A split-second later, another chair appeared unexpectedly under the blonde, and she soon found herself sitting in a similar chair. It was at that moment when a large reddish-pink crystal appeared next to her friend's chair.

When Ranma touched the crystal, several holographic view screens popped into creation and hovered in the air. The view-screens detailed scenes that were happening around the area of Laira, and one of the screens -- showing a side of Gosaria's house -- allowed the blonde to view her brother opening his window. Gosaria wondered just how the screens worked like they did.

"That took longer than a few minutes, momma." The voice of Laira from all around the room piped up and caused Gosaria to nearly fall out of her seat. She managed to catch herself and watch as a small pale-pink crystal appeared and floated towards her. The rounded crystal's surface soon changed to show Laira's face. This, too, caused Gosaria to go into awe. "What do you think?" The cabbit crystal asked with a smile. "My ship form is completely amazing, isn't it?"

Gosaria immediately nodded her head. "So this is what your ship form looks like!" Immediately, the blonde placed a finger to her chin. "But there it looks kind of boring in here. Isn't there anything else other than this room?"

"Of course there is." Ranma answered from her seat. "There's actually a living quarters down below. There's also a small gym with various training equipment, a mini-laboratory, and other things of interest. Laira's like a portable and cozy home-away-from-home wrapped in a tiny package." The cat-girl scratched the back of her head. "It's just too bad that Laira only just managed to start flying properly last year."

"It was hard to figure out, momma." Laira pouted. "But I'm glad I'm finally able to fly now!"

"Yeah, 'cause there's no use for a lab or sleeping quarters if you're flying us into utter oblivion." Her mother shot back with a smirk that caused the image to stick out her tongue. "Anyway, we need to hurry and get Nashigi and Hermione. Sitting around and yapping won't get us anywhere. Alright, Lai, let's head to Edwinstowe to pick up Nashigi."

"Alright, momma!" Laira announced as she started moving. This caused Gosaria to grip the sides of her chair due to the sudden feeling of the ship moving.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma shivered as she dragged Nashigi away from the girl's home. She almost forgot just how crazy Nashigi's family was. "Jeez, ya just had to join your mother and laugh, didn't you?" The cat-girl complained. Ranma had _**MOSTLY**_ grown accustomed to Nashigi's laugh. It was loud and annoying like a banshee, but she heard it enough to not get as worked up as she used to. However, when both Nashigi _**AND**_ Felicia got to laughing, her head almost felt as if it would split open. "It didn't really help that your sister and father started on a double tirade about how justice will always be with us too."

"Oh Lina, Amy and father just hope for us to be safe on our trip. Maybe they do tend to get a little rambunctious, but it shows that they care." The older girl answered casually. "Mother was also helping me train my laugh. By laughing together, I can figure out how to get better so that my laugh will become as musical as hers!" Nashigi planted her feet and raised an arm into the air. "One day, my laugh will be known far and wide. No one will be able to resist its charm! Ooohohohohoho!"

"That's because they'll all be dead due to their eardrums spontaneously combusting." Ranma answered with a raised eyebrow. "If your laugh gets any more perfect, that's what'll happen."

"You're just jealous." Nashigi shot back as she pushed her hair back. "By the way, Lina," The dark-haired girl began as she looked around, "where _**IS**_ Laira? You said she is waiting outside in ship form with Gosaria, but I don't see anything."

"That's because she's in stealth mode." Ranma supplied. "You won't be able to see her because of it, but she's right above us." She had to promptly sweat-drop when Nashigi turned her head upward to stare at the area above them. With a sigh, the cat-girl placed a hand onto Nashigi's shoulder and teleported the both of them onto Laira. "Welcome aboard Laira, Nashigi-- Err, what's going on?"

On the floor of the command deck, Gosaria was attempting to play a game of cards against a few clones of Laira formed from the floating crystal spheres. The blonde glanced over to her friends with a frown. "We started playing a card game called Go Fish, but I don't understand it at all. I'm completely losing!" In her hand were around 15 cards, while each of the Laira clones had around three.

"You really are bad at this." One of the Lairas piped up with a giggle.

"It's amazing." Nashigi interrupted as she walked around the command deck and made her way over to one of the windows to look out. The dark-haired girl started to compare the situation to one of those sci-fi shows where the people traveled freely onboard spaceships. In fact, there was a time once when she was younger -- and saw her first sci-fi flick -- where she pretended for almost a week to be a pilot of a spaceship. It was one of the perks of having a family that was knowledgeable of television and electronics.

Turning around, Nashigi placed her attention solely onto Ranma. "Lina, I want to pilot Laira. This is a moment I've been waiting for, and I shall show you the true talent of Nashigi Seisa Rosa!"

"Nuh-uh, I'm not about to let you fly us all to our death." Ranma replied back with her arms crossed in an 'x' formation. "The day I let someone whose breasts outweigh her brain do something like that is the day I give up eating!" Lowering her arms, Ranma turned around. "Besides, Laira has 95 of the control. My 'piloting' abilities are mostly issuing commands, moving holographic view screens, and a few other things."

"My breasts do _**NOT**_ outweigh my brain." Nashigi stated hotly. "When will you admit that you're jealous that you're just not as well-endowed as me? Your body is just pulling behind short in the road of life. Even Gosaria is starting to grow!"

Gosaria blinked before tilting her head. "Does it really matter that much?"

"Not really." Ranma shot back. "I'd rather stay like this than put up with a pair of huge knockers getting in the way!" Her tail gave a small swish as a thought occurred to her. "Either way, I can still con extra servings of ice cream and sweets from people."

Nashigi and Gosaria glanced at each other before looking back at their friend. "What do you mean?" They both asked at the same time.

The cat-girl stared at both of them. "You mean you don't know--" She had to stop herself as a smirk grew upon her lips. "I think I'm going to have to teach you two the secret to getting extra sweets sometime. It's a rather easy practice, but it'll have to wait until later. Right now, we have to pick up our last passenger."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I can't believe that Prof. Binns never went over this information." Hermione stated softly as she read through the history textbook from last school year. "Some of this would have made great lessons for us." Over the past month, the young witch had gone and read through her books to try and brush up on her magical knowledge until she obtained her newer books later in the year.

The idea and reality of the wizarding world was still something that her parents had to get used to, but the both of them were quite proud of her. They would sometimes ask her questions that they were curious about, and Hermione was happy to give them the answers. One of the few things that they didn't agree upon was the idea of using magic as a quick fix for things such as her larger front teeth.

At the moment, Hermione was sitting on the couch in the living room with her text book in her lap. Her other books were stored up in her room so that if someone came to visit, they wouldn't see what they _**DIDN'T**_ need to see. In the chair across from the sofa, her father was quietly paying attention to the local news on TV. It didn't seem like there was too much going on as of now, but he was interested in seeing the current weather conditions. Hermione's mother was in the process of making her way out of the kitchen after obtaining a glass of water.

Her mother, Caroline, glanced at her curiously as she sat down next to the girl. "What did your professor not go over, honey?"

"Well," Hermione began, "Prof. Binns did have us go over a chapter detailing the work of Merlin the wizard, but he should have had us read an earlier chapter on his life. It turns out that Merlin was actually half-demon. His mother was human, but he was sired by an incubus! I'm sure it could have raised a higher degree of discussion and learning if Prof. Binns had gone over it." Of course, Hermione wasn't really sure if she did believe in the whole 'sired by a demon' angle. Magic was one thing, but the idea of demons was just straight out of fiction. There was a possibility that they existed, but if they did, why didn't you actually hear anything about them?

"Maybe it's something that isn't really proven, and that's why your teacher didn't go over it." Her father, Thomas, commented as he scratched his chin. "Even in the wizarding world, there's bound to be things that are skeptical to believe, right?" When Hermione nodded, he continued. "Perhaps there was just a belief of sorts that he was part demon, but nobody could really prove it, even if he claimed it. Since it wasn't really proven, it wasn't gone over in class."

"Maybe," Hermione answered as she closed her book, "but it's still information that should have been gone over. Most of the other students in that class fall asleep or ignore the lesson. They may do their work, but they don't actually hear even half of what's being talked about." She honestly didn't understand why hardly anyone else placed the class as important.

The discussion came to a halt when they heard the sound of someone at the entrance. Caroline was about to get up to answer the door, but Hermione volunteered to be the one to do it. After quickly hiding her text book, the bushy-haired girl made her way over to the door and opened it enough to peek out. "How can we help you?"

Outside, Ranma raised a hand to greet the girl. "Yo."

"Lina!" Hermione answered as she fully opened the door so that her friend could come inside. "You should have sent a letter to say you were coming! Please come in, and where's Laira at?"

"Oh, she's not too far from here with Nashigi and Gosaria." The cat-girl quickly answered. When she had left the ship, the trio was playing a game of Old Maid. Well, Laira and Nashigi were playing. Gosaria was trying to figure the game out. "I came to see if you were ready to leave."

Hermione's eyes widened. "This sudden? But I'm not even ready yet! Why didn't you send a letter so that I knew we'd be leaving on the trip today?"

Scratching the base of her ponytail, Ranma gave a nervous chuckle. "Well, I kind of forgot. I didn't think it would be all that important of a detail." She continued to receive a stare from her bushy-haired friend. "Err-- is it really that much of an important detail? I mean, all you have to do is grab a few items and leave."

"Hermione, who is it at the door?" Mr. Granger asked as he made his way over to see why his daughter was taking so long. When he arrived, the first thing he noticed was the large cat-like crimson ears sitting on top of a girl that was around his daughter's age. The next things he noticed were the girl's monochromatic eyes and crimson tail swishing behind her.

"Father," Hermione began, "This is my friend, Lina. I told you and mum earlier last month that she invited me to go on a trip during the second month of the summer holiday."

"Ah yes, I remember you mentioning that." Thomas turned his attention to his daughter's friend. He remembered the girl from when he and his wife accompanied Hermione to Diagon Alley for the first time to help purchase her school supplies. At the time, the girl had seemed alright, and he could tell that his daughter was getting along nicely with her. "I think it would be best if you came in and made yourself comfortable. I doubt it would take Hermione long to get everything together to leave." He was also hoping that he and his wife could learn a little more about the cat-girl.

Complying with the request, Ranma followed Mr. Granger into the living room and noted that Mrs. Granger was tidying up some of the magazines on the coffee table. Caroline halted her actions and turned her head to cast a curious glance at their visitor. It didn't take long for her, too, to recognize the cat-girl from last year. How _**COULD**_ you forget a redheaded girl with cat appendages? "Your name is Lina, am I correct?"

Ranma answered with a nod. "I came to pick up Hermione for our trip. I guess I really should have written a letter beforehand to let you all know that I was coming."

"Yes, our daughter was very anxious for last month to end so that you two could leave." Caroline answered after taking a sip of her water. "She seemed most excited in meeting the person who built some kind of mini-computer for you, was it?"

"She's talking about Washu." Ranma supplied. "The woman's a genius, and they met briefly just before boarding the train to Hogwarts. Hermione wants to talk to Washu because she thinks that there's a lot she could learn, and she's excited over the thought of Washu making her a mini-computer similar to mine."

Thomas gave a small chuckle. "That's our Hermione all right. She's always had a thing for gathering information and learning just about whatever she can. Ever since she first started primary school here, she would always read through her books and apply everything into her work."

"She never did have many friends around here." Caroline added sadly. "She was always so caught up in studies and reading books that she never got to really communicate with anybody else. When we found out that she'd be going to Hogwarts, we hoped that she would end up making a few friends." The woman gave Ranma a smile. "From her letters, it sounds like she gained a few friends, and you're actually one of the first real friends she has had." Caroline placed her hand on top of Ranma's. "And the both of us thank you for that."

A slight tinge of pink appeared on Ranma's cheeks as she turned her head. "It's nothing, really." She said as she softly scratched her cheek.

"I was wondering something." Thomas began as he glanced at the cat-girl's ears. "How did you gain your cat features." His wife gave him one of those 'that was a rude question to ask' looks. "I'm only curious, and if it's too personal, then she doesn't have to answer."

Ranma decided to go with the modified story she started using a while back. "A magic accident when I was younger caused it. I got in the way and messed up some magic. The situation FUBARed, and suddenly I was sporting the ears, tail, senses, movement, and fangs of a cat." She showed the pair of dentists her elongated canines. "It was odd at first, but I've grown comfortable with it."

The Grangers found the story to be fascinating. After learning about the wizarding world, it seemed that almost anything could be real. Before the conversation could continue, Hermione had appeared with a small suitcase in hand. "Alright, Lina, I'm ready to go when you are!"

Raising an eyebrow at the sight of the suitcase, Ranma got up and walked over to it. "Err-- what's with the suitcase?"

"Well, I had to pack a couple changes of clothing if I'm going to be away for a few days. I also couldn't leave without a couple books to read."

Ranma had to admit that it made sense in a way. Of course, out of her three traveling companions, only Hermione took the time to actually pack anything. 'Damn, maybe I should have had Gosaria and Nashigi to-- nah, there'll probably be clothes they could wear at the Masaki house.' As she ended her thoughts, Ranma watched as Hermione bid some temporary goodbyes to her parents. Not long after, the two girls finally made their way out of the house and stepped into the sunlight.

Hermione turned to Ranma. "Lina, where are Laira, Nashigi, and Gosaria? Also, what kind of transportation are we going to take?" When her friend pointed skyward, the bushy-haired girl glanced up. However, she didn't see anything except for sky. "There's nothing up there, Lina. All I see is--" Her vision blurred for about a moment, and when everything came back into focus, Hermione was almost at a loss for words. "W-- Where are we?!" The scene looked like it was from one of those cheesy sci-fi flicks.

"We're aboard Laira." Ranma answered simply. At her friends increasing confusion, the cat-girl continued. "Laira has the ability to turn into a space ship, and by space ship, I'm talking about a real one; not those stupid cheesy ones from TV and movies." After looking around, Ranma called out to Laira. "Laira, where are Gosaria and Nashigi?"

Hermione jumped when the voice of Laira answered from all around. "Gosaria and Nashigi are currently trying out things in the game room, momma." Accompanied by the answer, a holographic monitor appeared in thin air to show what the two were up to. "After you left, they wanted to explore a little. I made sure they wouldn't damage anything important, and I led them to the game room. Nashigi understood the most, and tried to help Gosaria learn."

"That's fine and all, Lai." Ranma answered as a sweat-drop began to form on her head. "But can you _**PLEASE**_ tell me just when the hell you installed Dance Dance Revolution?" On the holographic screen, the images of Nashigi and Gosaria attempting, and failing utterly, to dance to a rather fast-paced song was shown. For some reason, the entire display managed to embarrass the cat-girl completely.

"Well, it seemed like a fun idea at the time." Laira pouted.

Placing her fingers to her forehead, Ranma shook her head. "Forget it. Just bring them to the command deck." Turning her gaze onto Hermione, Ranma noted that the girl seemed to be outright confused and was trying to grasp for answers.

"Lina, just what _**IS**_ going on here? How can Laira transform into a space ship? How _**CAN**_ something like this exist? Can't people see us? Just what _**ARE**_ you?!" For the second time in her life, the bushy-haired girl felt that what she believed was completely and utterly destroyed. The first instance was the idea that magic couldn't exist, but then it was proven true. Now, after believing that there couldn't be any such thing as space ships and alien activity, she was about to be proven wrong. What next?

"I guess this might be just a little too much to take in all at once." Ranma commented as she scratched the base of her ponytail.

"You think?" Hermione asked sarcastically. It was at that moment when Gosaria and Nashigi appeared from almost out of nowhere. "This is just too unbelievable. It can't be real."

"Nah, it's real." Ranma answered. She really did owe Hermione some kind of explanation. "Hey, I'll fill you in, just not at the moment. When we meet up with Washu, you'll get your explanation."

Hermione crossed her arms. "I'll hold you to that promise."

"Good, now that that's settled, we can head to Japan!" Ranma announced as she commanded Laira to set course.

Nashigi decided to interrupt. "Err-- Lina, I think we might have a small problem."

"Jeez, what is it?"

"Well, I don't think any of us besides you can speak Japanese." Everyone glanced in her direction. "We won't be able to understand a word of what's being said!"

Ranma cursed to herself at the detail that she had forgotten about. She'd have to contact Washu and see if she had any kind of translator that would allow for Hermione and the others to understand.

"Oh!" Gosaria announced with a hop. "I know that the word for goodbye in Japanese is sayonara!" The blonde puffed her chest up in pride. "See, I know at least some Japanese. I've also heard of sushi."

"It's a start." Nashigi added as she scratched her chin. "I happen to know a little Japanese myself, actually. While I may not know what it means, I know the word dim sum."

"That's a Chinese cuisine, Boobzilla." Ranma sighed out.

Nashigi glared at the redhead. "You don't have to be so mean about it."

Ranma stuck her tongue out in response.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Ranma had decided to take a quick detour around the moon on the way to Japan, Hermione had quickly pointed out that the moon was too far away to be a 'quick detour.' The girl had promptly fallen into silence when Laira, in the span of minutes, had left the atmosphere of the Earth and entered the blackness of space itself. Less than a minute later, the girls could only watch as the ship hovered over the Moon itself. They could actually see -- in detail -- the craters that pock-marked the very surface. Hermione, in her amazement over the whole scene, had commented that she wished that she could collect a moon rock as a souvenir of the Moon visit. In response, Ranma had vanished from the command deck, only to appear a moment later with three pieces of moon rock that she promptly gave to the trio.

That action both shocked and confused the bushy-haired girl even more. To get the rocks, one would have to actually step onto the moon, and the cat-girl had quickly done that. However, she had done it without any kind of space-suit that would protect her from the vacuum of space. The only likely conclusion that Hermione could reach was that her friend -- somehow -- didn't require any oxygen, and so she didn't suffer from a lack of it. The very thought was illogical in every form of the word. All living creatures needed oxygen to survive and help pump blood through their body. Without it, a living being would die, so how could the cat-girl defy even that? Hermione _**NEEDED**_ answers to these questions, and she wasn't getting them at the moment. From observation, Nashigi and Gosaria seemed to know those answers she needed. Her curiosity for the bizarre-ness of the situation needed to be quelled, but Ranma kept telling her that the answers would be given to her when they got to Japan.

Almost as if listening to Hermione's desire for answers, they were soon back on track and heading for Japan; which they arrived at in less than three minutes. Hermione, Nashigi, and Gosaria watched out the windows as they slowed up a little and passed by various cityscapes. The view of the cities quickly changed into that of a more rural environment; which gradually changed to show more and more trees and some mountains. Not long later, they started slowing down near a large and clean lake. A lone house was visible sitting near the lake-front, with a series of stairs in the background leading up to a shrine.

"Hey, we left when it was light out, so why is it now dark?" Gosaria asked as she glanced at the darkening skyline.

"We're now several hours ahead from where we were when we were in England." Hermione answered. "It was around noon there, but it's evening where we are now." She watched as Gosaria's lips went 'oh' before the blonde turned away from the window.

"This is going to mess up my sleeping pattern!" Nashigi whined as she stared at the sky.

Ignoring the dark-haired girl, Ranma placed a hand onto the center control crystal to shut down the holographic view-screens. Everyone then watched as the chairs and control crystal practically melted into the floor without a trace. "Alright, Lai, drop us to the ground and transform back into cabbit form."

"Wait, drop us? Wouldn't that hurt?" Gosaria asked in a panic. "We're so far up, and I might end up falling on my head!" Three sets of eyes locked onto her as Laira fell into an uncomfortable silence. "W-- What? Did I say something stupid?"

"Well, not _**THAT**_ stupid, really." Ranma added before placing an arm around the girl's shoulder. "Gosaria, listen, when and if you meet a blonde woman named Mihoshi, please, for the sake of the entire universe, do not hang around her more than what is needed."

The severity of the warning caused Gosaria to feel nervous. "W-- Why, is she dangerous?" Off to the side, Hermione and Nashigi wanted to know the same answer.

"Absolutely! She's probably the clumsiest ditz you'll ever meet in your life."

"Lina!" Hermione shouted with a disapproving look on her face. "How could you actually say something so rude like that? None of that makes her a dangerous person."

When Ranma looked at her, she could see a haunted look in the cat-girl's eyes. "You have no idea of the horrors of Mihoshi, Hermione. She's caused a damn battery-powered plushie that sings to explode just by squeezing the hand! She friggin pilots her own space ship and frequently spaces off while doing it. She's crashed into the lake and house more times than you could count! She can pop up so suddenly around delicate machinery that it's almost like she teleports, and then she presses a button and causes the machine to explode violently. She's dangerous as all hell, and I don't want her to start influencing Gosaria! If that ends up happening, then we're all _**DOOMED**_! Completely and utterly doomed." After a short moment of silence, Ranma's features quickly changed to that of a catty smile. "Alright now, is everyone ready to go down?"

The trio of girls glanced at each other with a hint of worry. The sudden change in their friend's behavior slightly unnerved them, but they had to agree that they were looking forward to leaving the ship. So, with a round of nods, they soon found their vision blur for a split second before finding themselves standing on the ground below. Ahead of them, Ranma was standing with her arm outstretched. Not long later, Laira -- in her cabbit form -- landed onto the cat-girl's arm before leaping onto Ranma's head. The girls still had a hard time believing that such a small creature could transform into such a large object.

"Alright, we're here." Ranma stated as she glanced around. "Now I just need to get some translator devices for you three from Washu. Her sensors probably picked up on us nearing the house, so--"

"The signals picked up on you entering Japan, actually." A voice popped up from behind the cat-girl. With a loud 'eep', Ranma leapt into the air and latched onto a tree branch that was above. Glancing down, the redhead noted that it was Washu who had -- somehow -- snuck up behind her.

"Damn it, you know I hate that!" Ranma shouted with pinked cheeks as she dropped to the ground and spared a glare at the diminutive woman. She suddenly found herself trapped in an embrace as Washu playfully rubbed a cheek against hers. The very action caused the cat-girl to twitch.

"But you're just so adorable when you act like a frightened kitten clinging to something for safety!" Washu announced in a childish and playful voice. "You can be such a mean thing, though." She added as she let go of the cat-girl and gave her a faked sad expression. "The first time we see each other in months, and you go and yell at me like that."

Ranma knew that Washu was faking the tearful expression; she completely knew. However, she also knew that Washu would keep it up to hack away at her defenses until she caved. "S-- Sorry about that." Ranma stated after a moment of reluctance. "A-- Anyway, do you have--"

"Three Universal Translator Devices?" Washu asked pulling out three small objects. She promptly tossed one of each to the three girls. "The devices are very simple, and they do all the work. Once you place it in your ear, you'll be able to listen to and communicate with any language. The key to it is the built in computer interface that analyzes a spoken language and instantaneously breaks it down, translates, and sends the results straight to your brain. When you speak, the device picks up signals from your brain and sends out a frequency that masks over what you are saying. The one you are speaking with would only hear their language."

Throughout her run-down of the devices, Washu's audience had varied reactions. Ranma was ignoring the entire speech and was focused on using her pinky to clean her ear. To the cat-girl, it was old information, and she wasn't interested in hearing it again. Gosaria had a glazed look in her eyes as she spaced off and ignored what was being said. Nashigi attempted to listen, but ultimately failed to understand. All she knew was that the device allowed her to understand other languages. Hermione, however, was hanging onto every word and nodding every few seconds to show that she understood. She may not have fully comprehended _**HOW**_ it was able to do what it did, but she at least understood Washu's explanation of _**WHAT**_ it did.

"Now that that's out of the way," Washu began as she wrapped an arm around Ranma's shoulder and pulled her close before falling back into a playful voice. "It's so nice to finally meet my widdle Ranma-chan's friends. It's nice to know that she isn't so lonely at that castle far away from her dear Washu-chan!"

Hermione blinked at the genius and struggling cat-girl. "Ranma? Is that some kind of nickname?" She couldn't believe just how well the translator device was working. Next to her, Gosaria and Nashigi were keeping extra quiet so that they wouldn't say anything they shouldn't.

Washu tilted her head as she glanced in Hermione's direction. "You mean she hasn't told you?" At the young girl's headshake, a wide grin appeared on Washu's lips. "Oh my, Ranma-chan, keeping such secrets from friends is such a rotten thing to do. I thought you learned better over the years."

"The subject never came up, okay?" Ranma answered quickly. Knowing Washu like she did, Ranma had no doubt that the woman found the whole ordeal amusing in some way, and was looking for some way to have fun with it. Finally getting free of the diminutive woman's hold, the cat-girl turned to her "I told Hermione that I'd fill her in later on!" How much, and how modified, the story would be was another story. She really did hate when she had to explain something from her past. "Anyway, can we just go inside instead of standing outside in the dark like a bunch of crazy people?"

Washu placed a finger to her chin. "Perhaps going inside would be a smart choice. Besides," the 20,000 plus-year-old left off with a curious gaze directed towards her student. "I think we might need some proper lighting."

"Why's that, Washu-cha-- Hey! What the hell are you doing?!" Ranma demanded as her teacher for 10 years reached down and pulled the cat-girl's shirt straight up. Behind her, their guests could only look on in shock and confusion.

"Yes, I thought so." Washu stated to herself as she let go of Ranma's shirt and smiled. "Well Ranma-chan, congratulations! It looks like they might actually be growing. It certainly does seem like they are larger than the last time I saw you."

Pulling her shirt back down, Ranma glared at her teacher of about 10 years. "Didja have to go and pull my shirt up like that in front of everyone? They're going to think that you're some kind of pervert." The cat-girl pointed behind her to the trio of girls who were slightly unnerved by the actions between the two redheads. "Not that it would be far from the truth." Ranma mumbled to herself. "Anyway, Washu-chan, there are some things I wanted to talk to ya about."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sitting cross-legged on the I-beam that she usually lounged on, Ryoko took a large swig from a bottle of sake. To the ex-space pirate, things around the house felt like they were falling into a slight rut. An attack hadn't happened for several months, she was getting along unusually well with Ayeka, Washu hadn't invented some dangerous crack-pot creation as of late, nor had she attempted any experiments on anyone. Well, there was that small issue pertaining to a malfunctioning boxing glove robot attaching itself to Tennyo a couple months back. However, since Tennyo and Airi had returned to the Galaxy Police Academy after their short visit, it had become boring.

Taking another swig from the sake bottle, Ryoko lazily glanced down at the entrance. She had watched Washu exit the house several moments ago. For what, she didn't know _**OR**_ care. Washu, her so called _**MOTHER**_, was on a role with trying to make her absolutely miserable. Sure, the last time the crazy woman had attempted to strap her to a machine of some kind was a few months ago, but lately, Washu had purposely begun to piss her off by tossing random, annoying comments and treating her like a baby. She was over 5,000-years-old, and so she should get the damn respect she deserved.

Her musings were cut short when the sound of the front door opening reached her ears. Sparing a glance towards the entrance, she watched as Washu re-entered the house. She perked up a little when she caught sight of the familiar form of Ranma. On top of the cat-girl's head was a happily chatting Laira. 'About time something interesting happened.' Ryoko thought with a smirk. To be perfectly honest, the cyan-haired ex-space pirate hated the fact that Ranma ended up going off to a stupid school so far away. Whenever the younger Masu was around, there was always some kind of amusement; be it either her training the kid in her Masu powers, teasing and fighting over certain things, or just all around causing mischief.

Ryoko wouldn't admit it out loud, but she considered Ranma to be a kind of younger sibling.

A few unfamiliar voices soon caught the cyan-haired woman's attention. When she looked, her eyes spotted three different girls walking in from behind Ranma and Washu. The trio actually seemed a little apprehensive in being here, and Ryoko filed that away for later. In her observation, she could tell that the blonde was a slight ditz; hopefully not as bad as Mihoshi. She couldn't really place what the dark-haired girl with overly-large breasts would be like, but if she had to guess, Ryoko would bet that she was annoying. The last of the group actually seemed to be normal, but there was a certain shine in the bushy-haired girl's eyes that reminded the ex-space pirate of Washu and -- to a lesser extent at times -- Ranma.

Curious as to the identity of the trio of girls, Ryoko vanished from her perch on the I-beam and appeared behind the group; phased into the floor with only the top half of her head visible. "Oh, Lina," the girl with the blonde hair began, "Thanks for those rocks you got us from the moon." She pulled out a small moon rock from a pocket. She was still in awe over the fact that they were so close to the humongous object.

"It was no big deal." Ranma answered with a shrug. "I just had to teleport to the surface, pick up three rocks, and teleport back onto Laira before handing them to you."

"But how?" Hermione asked. "Neither outer space nor the Moon have any oxygen. The moment you step outside, you would instantly suffer from such matters as decompression sickness, asphyxiation, ebullism, and a host of other issues." The looks she received caused the girl to blush slightly. "I read up a little about outer space a year before Hogwarts."

"The girl is brilliant!" Washu shouted as she grabbed Hermione in an embrace. "With enough time, you could become one of the great geniuses! Of course," the diminutive woman added as she let go of the girl, "Even with all the time and teaching, you'll never become as great as I. For I am Washu: Greatest scientific genius in the universe!" Washu promptly reached over and pulled Ranma to her. "But who knows, you may be able to come close and give my widdle Ranma-chan a challenge. I have, after-all, been teaching her almost every day for the past 10 years. Her attending Hogwarts is a set-back, but she seems to be doing just fine."

"Especially when you send me about as much work to do as usual." Ranma quipped as she jumped away from Washu. Turning her attention to Hermione, Ranma scratched the base of her ponytail. The girl still wanted an answer to the question she asked a moment ago. "I don't need oxygen to survive. There's your answer. Hell, I could live my life underwater if I wanted to."

Hermione continued to stare at her friend. "But that's impossible! All living creatures require oxygen to survive. Even fish require oxygen to survive in the water. How could your body possibly be able to ignore something like that?"

"What's with all the commotion?" A male voice asked as someone walked into view. "Washu-chan, you're not testing a new invention, are you-- Oh, hey Ranma." Tenchi pleasantly greeted once he caught sight of the cat-girl. "I wasn't aware that you'd be coming. Honestly, it really hasn't seemed the same around here since you started going to that Hogwarts place."

"Yo, Tenchi." Ranma responded with a wave. "I should hope so. It just wouldn't feel great for you all to just forget about me." A look of curiosity appeared. "Hey, where's everyone else at?"

"Sasami, Ayeka, Noike, Ryo-Ohki, and Mihoshi are watching a program on TV, and Ryoko went to get some more sake. Grandfather is also up at the shrine like usual." The raven-haired man supplied before giving a small chuckle. "I was kind of drafted to be the one to see what the commotion was about. By the way, are these three friends of yours?"

After a small round of introductions, Ranma led her friends into the living room of the Masaki house. When Ryo-Ohki and Laira had caught sight of each other, the two cabbits had transformed into their humanoid forms and grabbed hands as they greeted each other. Hermione, Gosaria, and Nashigi were amazed to see another creature similar to Laira. Ranma had explained several things to the latter two, but she had never mentioned anything about another cabbit.

Something else that was noticed by everyone present was that Laira's hair and eyes had changed colors. The only ones who weren't new to the change were Ranma, Gosaria, Nashigi, and -- oddly enough -- Washu. The diminutive woman had the look of someone who expected the change to occur.

When Mihoshi had introduced herself, the trio was slightly nervous at first due to Ranma's warning. However, they couldn't feel wary for long due to the woman's rather friendly personality. In fact, to Ranma's horror, Gosaria seemed to actually get along wonderfully with Mihoshi. The two blondes began to communicate as if they were old friends who hadn't seen each other in years. Noike seemed to have her own feeling of impending disaster as well, and Ranma guessed that it was due to the green-haired woman having a little more history with the blonde.

"Um-- Ranma," Ayeka began as she cleared her throat, "I don't mean to be rude, but if you recall, you're not supposed to reveal the existence of other-worldly devices to those of this planet. However, you had already done that by exposing your friends to the existence of space ships. Also, Mihoshi," she continued as she spared the blond, "Accidentally let certain information regarding the Galaxy Police slip."

"Quit being such a priss, Ayeka." Ryoko quipped as she phased up through the floor. The very action caused Hermione to squeak and jump back. After having ghosts do things like from time to time, you'd think one would be used to it. Gosaria and Nashigi only had slight reactions to the cyan-haired woman appearing from the floor. They'd witnessed their friend do it enough so that they were used to such an action. Ranma had also mentioned a couple times that she knew of a person who had the same phasing ability as she did, and so they guessed this woman was the one she was talking about.

The purple-haired princess of Jurai leveled a glare at the ex-space pirate. "What did you just call me, you universal menace?" The two may have gotten along a lot better than they used to, but there were still times when they would get under each other's skin.

"You heard me, unless you're showing some early signs of aging." Ryoko responded as she levitated into the air and sat cross-legged. "The pipsqueak let three people in on the secret; big deal. She probably figured that they could be trusted to keep the secret. It's not like she went on TV and broadcasted it all over the damn planet."

"That's not the point, Ryoko!" Ayeka shouted as she shot to her feet. "The Earth civilization is still in the development stages. Protocols state that--"

Ryoko rolled her eyes. "Protocols, shmotocols. When the pipsqueak popped up 10-years-ago, you didn't get all uppity over her learning the truth about us."

"The situation was different, idiot! Besides, after she almost killed herself with that magic spell she foolishly used and had to have her entire body healed by Washu merging and replacing her physiology with Masu DNA, it was already too late to voice the opinion."

Hermione blinked before turning her head to stare at a yawning Ranma. The two things she could gleam the most from the argument were that the cat-girl had almost killed herself with a magic spell _**at the age of TWO**_, and that she had something called 'Masu' within her.

Oblivious to Hermione staring at her, and finding no interest in the arguing women, Ranma reached into pocket space and pulled out a currently deactivated Ein and remote headset. As the cat-girl fastened the headset into place, she earned a few curious stares from almost everyone present. Once the headset was on, Ranma gave the mini-robotic cat head a small toss into the air. "Ein, activate!"

As soon as the command was uttered, Ein halted in midair and instantly opened its eyes. _**"What is it you'd like for me to do, Mistress Lina?" **_It asked in its child-like and energetic voice. Ein promptly scanned its surroundings to get a feel for where they were. _**"Wow, there's a lot of people here!**_" With that, the mini-cat bot flew around the room to greet everyone. _**"Salutations, I am Ein! A mini robotic surveillance droid created by Mistress Lina!"**_

Sasami decided to break the silence brought on by the sudden appearance of the robot. "It's adorable." The blue-haired princess announced in awe as she reached out to touch the invention. "I'm amazed that you were able to create such an advanced robot, Ranma."

"It wasn't all that difficult." Ranma answered with a smirk. "Sure, it took months of sporadic tinkering to figure out how to incorporate a lot of the smaller components and wiring so that they'd function, and I had to make sure that everything didn't explode like numerous other times." A round of sweat-drops came into being as Ranma spoke as if the problems in the process of creating Ein were just minor inconveniences. "But once all that was out of the way, it was incredibly easy!"

Ein made its way over to its creator and landed on her head. _**"That's because Mistress Lina is the greatest! There isn't anything she can't do!"**_ The mini-robot shouted as its small paws moved to the sides of its head and waved enthusiastically. Ranma, meanwhile, gained a slight tinge of pink on her cheeks as she coughed into her fist. Ein's proclamation was doing a rather good job of stroking her ego.

Washu made her way to her student and halted before the cat-girl. Stroking her chin and humming, the redheaded genius examined the invention. "I'm impressed, Ranma-chan. I honestly expected it to take you a few more years to put together your first fully working invention on your own."

"I guess I just have an excellent teacher; even if she is a tad mad." The last part was added under the cat-girl's breath. Unluckily for her, Washu had heard it and had given her a rather hard flick to the forehead. "Ow, did it have to be that hard?"

"No, but I wanted to do that." Washu replied as a smirk appeared on her lips. "Ranma-chan," the genius began as she slightly leaned forward, "Do you happen to remember what I said to you a few months back after you returned from the moon?"

The cat-girl stared blankly at the redheaded woman as she tried to remember the discussion they had at that time. It actually didn't take too long to recall the discussion, and when she did, it hit like a ton of bricks. "Now wait a minute! I thought you decided to _**NOT**_ bring that subject up again too soon!" Ranma shouted in a panic as her cheeks flushed.

"Bring what subject up?" Nashigi asked in interest. Anything that could cause such a reaction in her friend-sometimes-rival was worth knowing. "Oh, what possibly could make the great Lina blush so furiously after just a mention?"

Tenchi decided to try and derail the situation. "Washu-chan, I really don't think you should bring that up right now."

Ignoring the man's attempt at trying to stop her antics, Washu pulled Ranma close and wrapped an arm around her shoulder before turning her attention to Nashigi. "Why, marriage of course! During her winter break, I asked this adorable little scamp to marry me. Instead of agreeing, however, she ended up getting so flustered about it that she fainted."

"That's impossible!" Hermione shouted. "The two of you are female, and on top of that, Lina is only 12-years-old!"

"There are quite a few planets out there that would acknowledge such a union." Washu responded with a wink. The very thought caused Hermione to blush.

"Oh!" Gosaria shouted in excitement. "When do you think you two will get married? Could I attend the ceremony when you do?"

"Ooohohohohohooo!" Nashigi laughed, which caused everyone in the room to violently shiver. "So young, and yet you already found someone. My, you really do work fast, Lina. None-the-less, I too would like to bare witness to the union."

"You two call yourselves friends?" Ranma growled as she glared at Gosaria and Nashigi. "Washu and I are _**NOT**_ getting married! This is only a figment of her amusement."

Washu positioned her head near Ranma's ear. "I told you before, Ranma-chan. I'm not joking about the idea. Besides, we _**DO**_ make such a perfect pair. We've known each other for 10 years, shared some secrets, know some of the others' very strength and weaknesses--"

"Wait, Lina actually has some weaknesses?" Nashigi asked with extreme interest. The fact of knowing that her friend had some kind of weakness, besides cat-nip -- which was more of an insanity provoker than a weakness, -- was enough for her. She'd never bring herself to exploit it, but knowing for teasing material would be good.

"I ain't got any weaknesses!" The cat-girl shot back quickly. She then watched as Washu slowly raised her other hand. "W-- wait a moment, Washu-chan, not in front of Hermione and the others!" Her plea was ignored as the 20,000-year-old genius placed a finger to the base of her cat-ear and began a scratching motion. "Damn it, Washu-chan…" Ranma cursed softly as her eyes slowly closed. It wasn't long before she began to audibly purr as Washu continued to scratch the base of her ear. After a moment, Ranma's entire body relaxed as the purring continued.

Washu placed her other hand to her cheek and sighed. "Oh how I have missed that soothing sound." Her emerald eyes noticed the looks of Ranma's friends. Nashigi had a rather devious look upon her features. "Don't get it in your head that you'll be able to do the same thing, though." Washu stated as her student continued to purr. "If any of you attempt to do this, she'll probably claw at your hands. To date, only six people can do it without the threat of losing their hand." As Washu had stated, only six people -- Washu, Sasami, Mihoshi, Misaki, Sakura, and Kasumi -- could perform the action without the threat of harm. "If I could, I'd do this all day."

With a hint of reluctance, Washu halted in scratching the rather content cat-girl's ear. It took a moment for Ranma to recover, but when she did, she spared and embarrassed glare in Washu's direction and crossed her arms. "I told you not to do it in front of them, Washu-chan. You know how embarrassing it is when other people find out about it?"

"Aww, but you're so _**CUTE**_ when you purr like a little kitten, Ranma-chan!" Washu responded as she playfully pinched her student's cheek. "How about this," she began, "Since you achieved your first invention, I'll help you figure out the schematics of that device you've always wanted to create. The one that we discussed a long time ago that I'd help you invent after you achieved your first working creation."

Ranma's eyes almost grew into saucers as her head snapped towards the genius as her tail swished behind her. "Are you serious?" At Washu's nod, the cat-girl gave a whoop of joy as she jumped to her feet. "Washu, I could _**KISS**_ you!"

"You do, and I'll hold you to an immediate marriage." Washu quipped, causing the redhead to halt in her tracks and blush furiously. "In the meantime, Ranma-chan, I believe you owe your friend some sort of explanation." She added in a whisper as she pointed to Hermione. "I noticed that she seems to be completely lost with everything going on, while your other two friends -- even though they are slightly confused about certain things -- know a lot more."

"Yeah," Ranma responded as she scratched the base of her ponytail. She finally decided that she'd tell Hermione what she told Gosaria and Nashigi on that day Ryoga appeared. "Hey, Hermione, follow me. I'll give you the explanation that you've been wanting by telling you some of the things I've told Gosaria and Nashigi."

"Which still left a lot of things out." Nashigi commented with her arms crossed. "You didn't exactly go into detail regarding your time as Ranma or much about your life here, and by telling her that you'll explain to her _**SOME**_ of the info you told us, you're not really giving her a lot to go by."

"Yeah," Gosaria piped up, "You filled in a lot of questions we had about you, but it created a lot more questions that you never answered. Heck, all we knew about the people here were small details about them. You never really told us of much that happened while living here."

"That's because it wasn't -- and still isn't -- all that important." Ranma replied with a shrug. "I don't like having many people know about my past. There's no reason for it, especially if it doesn't affect them at all" In truth, having people know everything that you've been through was rather discomforting. The only reason that she had given more information to Gosaria and Nashigi was because of Ryoga. To explain how she knew him, she had to provide a little more information. Hermione, however, did not need to hear about that. "C'mon, Hermione." She stated as she motioned for the girl to follow.

Hermione nodded and followed the redhead. Part of her was glad to know that she was finally getting some answers; even if it was less than what Gosaria and Nashigi knew, but the other part felt rather nervous about it. Upon weighing both feelings, she found that her curiosity outweighed her nervousness. Besides, what she found out couldn't possibly be _**THAT**_ crazy compared to what she had learned in the span of a couple hours. Could it?

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

To say that Hermione was shocked would have had to be an understatement. Of all the things that she had expected to hear from her friend, what she _**HAD**_ gotten had literally blown her away. Still, the idea that she had lived a previous life as a boy did explain why the girl acted almost exactly like it most of the time. Of course, the phrase 'tomboy' could have easily made enough sense as well. The whole part about a water-based curse would have sounded even more ludicrous if Hermione hadn't spent a year at a school for magic. It still sounded a little too farfetched, but the cat-girl certainly seemed to be telling the truth.

For the most part, Ranma had refused to go into too much detail about her past life. She explained how she was born male, and was a martial artist and heir to a school called the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts. The water curse was explained in a little more detail, and Ranma gave a slight mention to having a fiancée who was rather 'uncute, tomboyish, and built like a brick.' Throughout the tale, the redhead had taken the time at various intervals to stroke her ego and mention how she was the best.

What Hermione found most interesting and shocking was that Lord Voldemort actually sought down and killed Ranma. The most powerful evil wizard of all time had actually traveled to Japan for the purpose of killing a teenaged martial artist with no real magical ability. Either Voldemort mistook Ranma for someone else, or he actually felt that the martial artist would be some kind of threat.

The cat-girl ended up finishing her tale by telling Hermione how she really came into possession of her cat features, and -- in response to the girl's questions from earlier -- explained about the Masu physiology and why she didn't have any problem without oxygen. Hermione couldn't get anything more info out of Ranma after that.

"Wow," Gosaria began, "That really was shorter that what we were told." Next to her, Nashigi gave a nod in agreement. Even they were given more information regarding the people in Ranma's previous life.

"Forgive me for saying this, Lina," Hermione let out slowly, "But I'm honestly having a hard time believing what you have told me. Still, it _**IS**_ the most you have ever told me about yourself. Also, after flying to the moon in a space ship created by Laira transforming, I _**AM**_ willing to believe it." Her entire view of the workings of the world just kept on being shredded and mutilated beyond what she had originally known. "Who else knows about this?"

"Just you, Gosaria, Nashigi, the residents of this house, and three other people." Ranma answered as she ticked each off with a finger. "Hell, not even my mother knows the real truth."

Hermione gave her a shocked look. "How could you not tell your mother the truth? Doesn't she worry about what you're up to all the time?"

Ranma averted her eyes. "I can't tell her." Her hand subconsciously reached up and pulled the locket that her mother and Laira had gotten for her out from its hiding place beneath her shirt. "I've thought about it a few times though; especially during the course of last month."

The group was silent for a moment as the trio observed the object that Ranma had brought out. "Hey, what's that?" Gosaria asked as the cat-shaped gem and pulsing fire boarder caught her attention.

"Mom and Laira got it for me last month when we were in Diagon Alley. I wanted to refuse at first, but there was just something about it I liked."

Hermione had to spare a small smile. It was nice to know that the cat-girl actually enjoyed her time with her mother during last month. The smile quickly fell into a look of seriousness, though. "I still say that you should tell your mother the truth. It'd be the best thing to do."

Heterochromatic eyes stared directly at the bushy-haired bookworm. "I already told ya that I can't, Hermione."

"But why can't you?" Hermione inquired. "It probably worries her that her own daughter keeps so many secrets from her! She deserves to be told the truth!"

For a split second, Ranma's eyes flashed red. "It's none of your damn business, so drop it." Off to the side, Gosaria and Nashigi were watching the display with interest.

"I'm not going to drop it." Hermione quipped with a shake of her head. "A child should not keep their mother in the dark and cause her to worry about her child. What are you afraid of? You think she'll suddenly consider you to be a freak and--"

The cat-girl immediately jumped to her feet and delivered a crimson-eyed glare at the other girl. "I'm not afraid of anything!"

"Well, you are certainly acting like you are scared of what could happen if you tell her."

"Will ya just drop it and quit being an annoying busy-bodying chipmunk?!"

An intense silence fell over the room at Ranma's insult. The first one to recover was Hermione. "E-- Excuse me, but did you just call me a chipmunk?" Never-mind being called annoying and busy-bodying, it was the chipmunk part that caught her attention.

Ranma merely shrugged before answering. "Well, your front teeth are rather large. They're not as large as a chipmunk's, but it's a good enough comparison." She was soon on the receiving end of a rather strong slap.

"Well excuse me for having large teeth!" Hermione shouted as she retracted her hand. When it registered what she had just done, Hermione gave a small gasp. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Lina! That comment about my teeth just made me so angry and caused me to react without thinking!"

Even though the slap didn't hurt her, Ranma still thought it felt like a thousand stings. "Just drop it, okay? Whether I tell my mother or not is none of your business. It's my problem, so stay out of it." The cat-girl answered as she turned around and started to walk off. "I'll be in Washu-chan's lab if any of you need me."

After Ranma had left, Nashigi turned her attention onto a saddened Hermione. "She is right, you know." The large-busted teen stated as she got to her feet. "How she handles her mother is no business of yours."

Gosaria got to her feet as well and started scratching her head. "Um-- I know she said she'd be in Washu's lab, but where is that at?"

"An excellent question." Nashigi responded as she beat her fist into her hand. "We'll just have to check each room until we find it. A lab has to be in one of the larger rooms."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I just don't see why it should be any of her concern." Ranma commented as she lay on her back on top of a flat table. At the moment, she was only clad in her underwear as Washu performed a physical examination. Wires were attached to various parts of the cat-girl's body, and a small scanner hovered above her to take a scan of her body to compare with previous scans to see how much she had grown. "And to accuse me of being a coward was just low."

When she had first entered the sub-dimensional lab, she was greatly unnerved when Washu had ordered her to strip to her unmentionables. However, she became relieved when the woman had mentioned that it was only for her yearly physical examination that was overdue. Of course, having Washu perform a physical examination was _**ALWAYS**_ embarrassing and unnerving. The 20,000 plus-year-old Choushin had a habit of having too much fun in examining her examinee. The cold steel table was also largely uncomfortable, and Ranma wished that Washu had gone with using one of the liquid tubes instead.

Washu hummed as she typed away on a computer terminal that was displaying her student's results. "To be fair, it did sound like you were afraid to answer the question, Ranma-chan." When Ranma let a smart comment escape her lips, a small electric jolt shocked her. "Don't try and deny it, Ranma-chan. You've actually grown attached to Narcissa, and the thought of her finding out the truth and feeling disgusted fills you with fear. After finding out that you do have feelings for your mother, you don't want to risk destroying what you have already built up."

Staring upwards with a slight vacant look in her eyes, Ranma mulled over what Washu had just told her. She had to admit that it was true. Spending that month together with Narcissa had shown her that she did have a connection with the woman, and she had also formed a slight attachment. The thought of revealing the truth to Narcissa lead to a fear of the woman's upbringing and views finding her to be outright repulsive. "Damn, I really am a coward." A more powerful jolt of electricity coursed through her body; causing the fur on her tail and ears to stand up. "What the hell was that for?"

Washu gave her an innocent expression. "My hand slipped." She lied. "Besides, it's honestly understandable for one to be nervous or scared of the idea of not being accepted by one they feel attached to." With the tap of a button, the wires attached to Ranma's body detached and retracted. "However, Narcissa has accepted you even with your cat problem and the fact that you're attracted to girls. Am I right so far, Ranma-chan?" Washu received a small nod. "After that, do you honestly think that she'll find you repulsive if she learned that you were male in a _**PAST LIFE**_, or that to keep from dying, you had to have your physiology changed to that of a Masu? I doubt she'd have a problem with the fact that by being a Masu, you're far healthier and talented than you would be otherwise." Standing up, Washu made her way over to the younger redhead. "Besides, you can tell her that it was the 'big bad demon Xellos' that did it to you around the same time he 'supposedly' changed you into a cat-girl. The reason you never told her was that you were worried it'd be too much and cause her to feel disgusted with you. For an added affect, you can fake a crying and being sad. You do that, and I'm sure there'd be nothing to worry about."

As she pushed herself up into a sitting position, Ranma thought about what the diminutive woman had said. "I guess that could work." She wasn't going to worry about telling her mother the truth for a while though. "Could I have my clothes now?"

"Why Ranma-chan, are you telling me that you'd like to deprive me of possibly the one of the few free chances I'd have to see your adorable little body?" Washu asked in mock shock and hurt. "You're such a mean little thing!" At Ranma's continued glare, the scientific genius gave off a small pout as she handed the younger redhead her clothes. "Oh poo, you're no fun at all right now." That didn't, however, prevent Washu from deciding to have a little more fun. "The results from the scan of your physical body showed something rather interesting."

"Really? What's that?"

"You are, in fact, growing, Ranma-chan." Washu answered with a poke to Ranma's nose. "Three years ago, your body practically halted in any kind of growth other than muscle. On the scan that we conducted just now, it has been shown that you have grown three inches. Your body has gained a slight hint of shape to it, and your breasts have actually developed some." The cat-girl honestly had mixed feelings regarding that last bit of news. "Also, the length of your tail has increased by five inches, and your ears have become a smidge larger."

"Well, at least my body isn't stuck in a kind of perpetual limbo where I won't get taller or anything." Ranma responded as she placed her locket back around her neck.

Washu snapped her fingers as she remembered something. "Oh, Ranma-chan, follow me. I have something that I think you'll find interesting." At the rather wary look she was given, Washu sighed. "Just come on. I promise that it won't involve anything perverted."

The two redheads made their way across the dimensional lab and near a rack containing rows of jars. Washu hummed as she searched for the right container, and when she did, she pulled it off the shelf and handed it to Ranma. "Go on and take a look, Ranma-chan."

Curiosity getting the better of her, Ranma did so, and what she saw caused her to blink. "Razzlof?" She asked aloud as the tiny figure within the jar glared at her with eyes full of hate. Ranma still remembered quite clearly when the now miniaturized demon had appeared several months ago. Razzlof had kidnapped Sakura and had attempted to use her as a bargaining chip to get to her. They had fought, and -- while Ranma would admit that she put up a superb performance -- she ended up losing to the demon and had to watch as Tenchi and the others jumped in. The very event itself had left a bad taste in her mouth, but she had gained some solace in the fact Washu decided to keep the demon for testing purposes. A smirk slowly appeared on her lips. "It's been a while. I assume that you've been behaving like a good little guinea pig for Washu-chan?" Razzlof pounded a fist on the side of the container in anger. In response, Ranma gave the jar a violent shake.

Washu tapped the bottom of her chin. "He put up quite a bit of resistance at first, but then we started to make some excellent progress. Isn't that right Razzy-chan?" The mini-demon's cheeks flushed as he glared at the woman. "I also took the liberty of obtaining some information from him. He was tight-lipped at first, but after some _**REASONING**_, he started opening up to me about who sent him and why."

Ranma knew what Washu probably meant by 'reasoning with him', but decided to not think about it. What she was really interested in was to know why someone she didn't know at all was trying to kill her. "Go on."

"Razzlof didn't have too much important information regarding it, but it seems that a demon lord by the name of Dynast Grausherra is under the impression that you will become a deciding factor in certain undisclosed events a few years from now. Something that'll cause a huge blow to the numbers of the Mazouku race will happen. It seems that since you have a part in it, this Dynast and a few others feel that they should either kill you or convince you to join their side to prevent whatever is coming."

Staring blankly at the diminutive genius, Ranma internally cursed. Why did she have to attract the attention of a bunch of damn demons? "Great, I even acquired Lina Inverse's problem with demons. Thank you so much, Lina."

"Oh you'll be fine." Washu responded as she gave her student a momentary scratch behind the ear. "The reason you lost so badly last time against Razzlof was because you were operating under rage over what he did to Sakura. If your head was cleared, you probably would have done a better job."

The cat-girl stared down at the imprisoned demon. They were going to have to have a rematch someday, and when that happened, she would show him that she was the better of the two.

"Oh, I believe we were going to discuss the schematics of that invention you've always wanted to create. Am I right, Ranma-chan?" Washu asked curiously. She watched, with some humor, as Ranma roughly placed the jar containing Razzlof back onto the shelf.

"Yeah, you promised several years ago that when I created my first working invention, you'd help me figure out how to create the Genetic Form-altering Belt." Ranma answered excitedly. It was back when she was around four years of age when she had confronted Washu about creating a transformation device that would allow her to -- even if it was temporary -- return to a male form.

To her displeasure, the 20k plus-year-old scientist had refused to create such a device. Her reasons behind the refusal were simple. The first reason was that there were too many people who knew of 'Lina', and also knew that 'Lina' was female. To suddenly become a male would cause too many questions, and the possibility of the true face of the Masaki house residents being revealed was too great.

The second reason was that even though Ranma's physical body was female, she was still the same person she previously was. Several mental scans that Washu had conducted revealed that Ranma's brain patterns leaned more towards the male side than female. After several different tests, Washu had concluded that -- to Ranma's intense relief -- the cat-girl would not have problems with suddenly 'going girly' unless she decided to voluntarily act like it. Since then, the mental scans have remained the same with the male patterns being greater than the female. However, the sides did balance out _**SLIGHTLY**_.

The third and final reason for Washu refusing was that she had already created a similar device over 15,000 years ago. To create another one would be too easy and lacking any kind of challenge. It was decided, however, that when Ranma managed to create her first working invention, Washu would reveal to the cat-girl the very schematics so that she could end up figuring it out.

"Now, I won't lie to you, Ranma-chan." Washu began with an unusual air of seriousness. "You are -- in essence -- a fledgling inventor. Inventing Ein took -- as you have confessed -- months of tinkering, and an even longer amount of time to understand how the wiring and components worked. Even then, many tries backfired on you and exploded." At the cat-girl's nod, she continued. "What you want to invent could honestly take years to create. Inventions that deal with genetic alterations and transformations are very, _**VERY**_ delicate. There is minimal room for error when fooling around with such things. I've seen what can happen if just one mistake is made in creating such a device." For emphasis, Washu brought out an image of a failed try at inventing a genetic device and showed it to her student.

Ranma paled completely as she stared at the result in the image. "Th-- That's," there was only one phrase that could describe such a disturbing and horrifying image. "Oh my…"

"And it took months to return this person to their original form." Washu responded as she put the image away. "Now, do you see why this kind of invention is not for amateurs?" Her student could only nod her head. "To even begin to start on such an invention, you will need to delve deep into the subject of genetic engineering and learn how certain genes react to having a component changed even a little. This is incredibly important, Ranma-chan. I can't express enough how dangerous it is without the proper learning. This is not magic we're talking about; it's science. There would be no room for goofing off, unless you want to end up like the person in the image."

"No!" Ranma shouted as she waved her hands. That image was the stuff that nightmares were made of. After calming down, the cat-girl reached back and scratched the base of her ponytail. Inventing such a thing would be _**WAY**_ harder than she had originally thought. "Damn, and I barely managed to create Ein as it is."

"All inventors have to start somewhere." Washu answered as she gave Ranma a pat on the head. "I must say, though, that you're off to a good start. Your first invention was a fully working, wireless, headset controlled, and sentient mini robot." The cat-girl felt her ego and pride spike. "What I'd recommend as of right now is for you to continue working on Ein. As a budding inventor, it's always a good idea to enhance and add features to perfect your creation and increase your inventing skills. With time, your skills will improve and allow you to work on harder and more complex things. It's not like you're on a time limit or anything."

Ranma thought over what Washu was saying and had to admit that it made sense. While she would like to return to a male form -- even if it wasn't permanent, -- she wasn't in a big enough hurry to completely muck up her very being due to a failed genetic invention. Besides, if she _**REALLY**_ had an intense desire to become male for a short time, she could probably obtain some of those instant spring packets. Of course, fooling around with _**ANYTHING**_ having to do with Jusenkyou was rather risky. With her luck, the packet she would end up receiving would be mislabeled in some way. "I can't argue with that, Washu-sensei." Ranma answered with a serious nod before smirking. "I already have some ideas on how to improve Ein. I think I might need your help in figuring out how to create those improvements, though."

Washu placed an arm around the younger redhead's shoulder. "No problem at all, Ranma-chan. You just tell your dear Washu-chan what you need!"

Ranma opened her mouth to speak, but a loud crash and a trio of screams caused the two redheads to investigate the source of the noise. What they found when they arrived was Nashigi yelling at Gosaria. The latter of the two was sitting on her rump with a device that had fallen into her lap. Near the duo, Hermione had a nervous look upon her face. When she saw Washu and Ranma, she proceeded to apologize.

"I apologize that we came in unannounced. We were directed to your lab and entered through the door. I proposed that we stay in one spot and wait for you to come, but Nashigi and Gosaria decided that it couldn't hurt to walk around. It was then that Gosaria failed to watch where she was going and crashed into a shelf." After catching her breath, the young witch turned to Ranma. In a subdued voice, she continued. "I'm sorry I slapped you earlier, Lina. You were right in the fact that it was none of my business whether you tell your mother or not."

Ranma waved her hand dismissively. "Eh, forget about it. It's no big deal."

Hermione smiled and figured that was Lina for 'apology accepted.' She then proceeded to get back to the task at hand. "How is it that such a large place as this can exist inside the house?" She asked as she glanced around in awe.

"It's located in a different dimensional plane all together." Washu responded as she pushed a strand of hair back. "If you'd like an estimate of its size, I'd say that my lab in its entirety is about as large as large as a few planets."

Eyes as wide as saucers, the three guests turned their attention to Ranma. "Can you create something like this as well?" Hermione asked.

"Err-- no." Ranma answered with some annoyance. "There's a lot more I have to learn before I can create a sub-dimensional room; much less an entire lab or something." She'd made some progress though. She'd managed to create a sub-dimensional construct capable of holding the equivalent of a five-drawer dresser.

Pushing herself to her feet, Gosaria picked up the device that had fallen into her lap. "Hey, what's this thing?" The device consisted of a flat surface with a small hole in the front. Attached to it was a large screen. All in all, it seemed to be a rather simple-looking object.

Washu reached out and grabbed it before the blonde possibly had another accident. "It's a new invention of mine that I created a few months ago." She said as she placed it on a table. "It's a little invention that I like to call the Lifespan Estimate Producer. All you have to do is stick your finger into the hole. It will then tally up your lifespan along with the factors that play into it." A mischievous glint appeared in the diminutive woman's eyes. "Why don't you all try it out and see the results?"

A deep silence fell over the group as they debated on whether they'd actually want to know or not. In the end, they decided to throw caution to the wind and try it out. The first to use the device was a rather enthusiastic Gosaria. When she placed her finger into the entrance, it began activation. About 10 seconds later, the results started to appear on screen accompanied by a voice. "Human with some magical manipulation and perfect health. Estimated lifespan for Gosaria Negia is 120 years." The voice ended and left a rather shocked blonde.

Nashigi was the second to have a go at the device. After about 10 seconds, it revealed that the dark-haired girl could expect an estimate of 117 years; something that caused her to pout about Gosaria's being longer. After that, it was Hermione's turn. She was rather nervous, but stuck her finger into the opening anyway. After analyzing, the display popped up to show an estimate of 121 years. Hermione then proceeded to let a breath she didn't know she was holding escape.

"Alright, it's my turn!" Ranma announced as she placed her finger into the opening and waited. Not too long after, the screen displayed the results.

"Humanoid with Masu physiology and enhancements, excellent mana and ki manipulation with perfect health and immune system, Sailor Crystal, and physical reinforcement. Estimated lifespan for Ranma Lina Inversia Malfoy…" a few eyebrows raised at the name. "Error!! Error!! Lifespan for Ranma Lina Inversia Malfoy can not be calculated. Overload of system is--" Before it could finish, the device exploded.

An uncomfortable silence fell as everyone stared at the wreckage of the destroyed machine. "Err-- Why did it explode?" Ranma asked. Her hair was slightly singed from being so close to the explosion.

"Well," Washu began as she rubbed the back of her neck, "The Lifespan Estimate Producer only counts up so far. It's a prototype, and I've been meaning to add a few tweaks for it to not have a limit, but I've been busy with other things. You seem to have hit the high end."

"Err-- What's the high end, Washu-chan?" Ranma asked with a hint of nervousness.

"Only about 100,000 years." Washu answered with a shrug. "There are many people throughout the universe who can live for hundreds of thousands of years, and so it's not that big of a deal. Your aging will slow down to an almost non-existent crawl when you reach about 18-years-old."

"Now wait a minute!" Ranma shouted. "I knew I was going to have a long life due to the Masu DNA and stuff, and even then I thought I'd only live for a few thousand. Now you're telling me I'll live _**100,000 YEARS**_?!"

"_**OVER**_ 100,000 years, actually." Washu answered. "There's no real way to tell just how long you will live. There are methods -- depending on the technology of a civilization -- that could allow one to live _**OVER**_ hundreds of thousands of years. That's not even putting into account someone with a Sailor Crystal and Masu physiology."

"B-- But," Ranma began for Washu gathered the rather catatonic cat-girl into an embrace.

"Isn't it great, Ranma-chan?! We have all the time in the universe to be together!" After a moment of silence, Washu pulled back to see that the cat-girl had blacked out. "She can be such a lightweight." The genius admitted with a shake of her head.

"Wow," Gosaria commented, "When we're all old, grey, dying, and six feet under, she'll still be young, colorful, healthy, and six feet above." Her comment earned a pair of looks from Hermione and Nashigi. "What?"

"Colorful? Six feet above? Where in the world did those come from?"

The blonde gave a shrug. "It made sense to me."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A couple days later found Ranma traversing the heart of the Juuban district of Minato ward, Tokyo. The cat-girl had decided to pay Hotaru a small visit and see how the young girl was doing. After-all, she had promised to visit the child sometime, and she didn't want to take back the promise. Ranma also remembered the promise she made to a certain dragon and decided to visit Norberta sometime in the future. Perhaps she'd make time for it after her visit to the planet Mau.

The revelation of her living hundreds of thousands of years was still playing through her mind, but she couldn't dwell too much on it as she made her way through the crowded streets. She received many odd stares pertaining to her ears and tail, but by pretending that they were just accessories that she was wearing, nobody felt the need to comment. After having a few more people bump into her, Ranma finally got fed up and teleported to the top of a building.

Pulling out a gold coin, Ranma closed her eyes to concentrate. The coin -- along with the one she had given Hotaru -- was one that she had used a small trace enchantment on. At the time, she had fiddled around with the idea of an enchantment that could alert the owner in some way. After several tries, she had successfully placed the enchantment on two coins. One of them was the one that she had given to Hotaru. If the girl was ever in trouble, the coin would send a kind of pulse to the one that Ranma had. It wasn't perfect though, and the cat-girl wanted to check Hotaru's coin and enhance the enchantment some more. Of course, if it wasn't for the portrait of Lina Inverse, she probably would have never figured the enchantment out beyond the rather simple parts.

Ranma's thoughts halted when she felt a faint trace of the magic that she had used on the coin she had given to Hotaru. It would have been easier if she had actually known the girl's address, but she didn't know her parents' names, and there were probably several people with the surname of Tomoe residing within the Juuban district. So she was in the midst of doing the next best thing.

'I really do need to work on my magic senses.' Ranma grumbled as she followed the faint signal. She soon came to a stop at the area where she sensed the strongest pulse, and what she saw caused her stare in awe. The building seemed to be a combination of a house and a large laboratory. 'Awesome, she's the daughter of a scientist.' The cat-girl thought as her curiosity started to get the better of her. Walking up to the gates, Ranma noticed an intercom attached to the wall. Deciding it would be better than just leaping over the gate she pressed the button.

Luckily she didn't have to wait long before the entrance door opened to reveal Hotaru's mother, Keiko. "Yes, how can I help you?"

"I'm here to visit Hotaru. Tell her that Lina's here to see her."

A hint of recognition flashed through Keiko's eyes before she disappeared into the house. After several minutes -- in which time Ranma started hopping on one foot to alleviate an onslaught of boredom, -- a small child shot out of the house and ran up to the gate. "Lina-neechan!" Hotaru shouted before stopping at the gate. "I didn't think you were ever going to visit!"

Ranma gave a slight smirk. "Hey, I'm visiting now, aren't I? Stand back for a moment, Hotaru-chan." Once the young raven-haired girl had backed up, the cat-girl gave a simple leap and easily cleared the gate before landing on one foot. Heterochromatic eyes stared directly into awed purple eyes. "Pretty cool, isn't it, Hotaru-chan?"

"Wow," was all the seven-year-old could say before grabbing the older girl's hand and dragging her towards the house. "Come on, Lina-neechan, I want to show you around the house."

"Wait, Hotaru-chan, I can walk on my own." Her voice fell on deaf ears as the child continued to pull her along and into the house.

Keiko -- who was still at the door -- could only give off a giggle as she watched her daughter practically drag the older girl. It was still odd that the redhead had actual cat features, but she seemed to be a nice enough person. After Hotaru's brief meeting with her during the winter, Keiko noted a slight change in how her daughter acted. She was no longer overly shy and timid, and she did her best to ignore it when a bully tried to tease her. Hotaru wasn't always successful, but the brief talk she had with the older girl had a nice effect on her.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"This is my room, Lina-neechan." Hotaru stated as she guided her guest into the bedroom. Ranma noted that the room seemed rather spacious for a seven-year-old, but there were several dressers and stands that took up some of the space to make it seem not as large. As expected of a young girl's room, there were some visible plush toys, but not as many as Ranma had expected. Interestingly, counting a ceiling lamp, there were three other lamps in the room. Two of them were setting on the surface of a desk, and the other -- a floor lamp -- was sitting next to a wall. "I like lamps." Hotaru responded as if she were aware of what Ranma was thinking. "I only have a few, but I'd like to get more. They're just so beautiful."

"Imagine all the light bulbs you'd need." Ranma commented as she examined one of the lamps. "I mean, by the time you replace one bulb, another would probably go out."

"Then I'll get more bulbs." Hotaru responded with a comically serious expression. "I don't care if a bulb goes out. I'll just keep putting new ones in. That way, my lamps will last forever and ever!"

'The kid's determined, I'll give her that.' The cat-girl thought with a smile. "Hey, Hotaru-chan, where's the coin I gave you?"

The younger girl immediately pointed to the string around her neck. Reaching down into her shirt, she pulled out the gold coin that was now a make-shift necklace. "Mama had papa turn it into a necklace. Now I don't have to worry about my amulet getting lost."

Ranma blinked. "Amulet?"

Hotaru nodded her head. "You told me that it'll help if I'm in trouble. Mama said that an object that protects a person from trouble is called an amulet."

The older girl found that what the woman had said did make sense. "Hotaru-chan, let me see your amulet for a moment." Complying with the request, Hotaru removed the coin and handed it to the cat-girl. After pulling out her own, Ranma set both coins on the floor in front of her. Closing her eyes, Ranma recalled what the portrait of Lina had explained to her. She soon began a low chant as she placed her hands over the surface of the coins.

Hotaru's expression became one of awe when the cat-girl's red hair lifted slightly into the air. She then watched as a bright aura of light spring to life under Ranma's hands and obscured the coins from view. The scene only lasted for around a minute and half, and Hotaru found herself disappointed to see the effects end so soon. "What did you do, Lina-neechan?" She asked curiously.

Wiping some sweat from her brow, Ranma sat back. The process took more out of her than she thought it would. 'Note to self: Put a little more practice into advanced charms and enchantments.' She then turned her attention to Hotaru. "I improved the connection between our coins. Before, it would send a series of strong pulses to me if you were in any kind of danger. Now, if you call out for help, I'll be able to hear your voice. I'll also be able to immediately locate you through the coin, so it'd be easier to get to you." She also wanted to make it so that they could communicate normally to each other by just talking into the coin, but she honestly had no clue how to work that into the enchantment at that time. She had only asked Lina about the danger alert aspect.

"That sounds so cool." Hotaru answered as she grabbed what she called her amulet and placed it back around her neck. "You'll be like one of those guardian angels making sure I'm safe, won't you?"

"You got it, kid." Ranma stated with a chuckle as she gave the girl a pat on the head. "Leave it to your neechan. If you're ever in danger, I'll appear and kick the asses of whoever tries to harm even one strand of hair on your adorable little head."

Hotaru giggled before glomping onto the cat-girl. "Lina-neechan, I love you! I wish you really were my big sister! You can do magic and a bunch of other cool things. You're just awesome!"

A tinge of pink appeared on Ranma's cheeks. The girl was just too adorable for words. "Hey, don't forget, kid. You can heal other peoples' wounds. Maybe with enough practice, you'll be able to do even more awesome things."

"Really?"

"Yeah! Hell, even if you don't figure out anything else, you could use your healing ability to-- say-- become the best damn nurse or doctor in the world."

Hotaru's cheeks pinked a little. "You really think I could become a one of those?"

"I sure do. With your healing ability, you'll have loads of people lining up to seek your help." Ranma wondered if she could actually help the girl learn magic sometime. She could tell that Hotaru's healing ability was magical, so perhaps the girl could do other things as well.

"It's nice to know that you have such confidence in my daughter." A voice spoke up from the doorway. Ranma glanced up to see a rather tall man with short shock-white hair. The expression on his face was soft, and he had a pair of thin glasses over his dark blue eyes.

A wide smile appeared on Hotaru's lips. "Papa, this is my friend who gave me my amulet!"

"Lina Malfoy." Ranma greeted.

"Professor Souichi Tomoe." The man responded back with a nod. As he observed the redhead, he couldn't help but stare at the girl's rather catty features. "I know this may be a little rude of me, but I can't help but wonder about your ears and tail. You see, I'm somewhat of a geneticist. What that is--"

"You work with Genetic research and engineering." Ranma interrupted. She was rather amazed that she had come across another scientist researching the subject of genetics so soon. It also caused her to remember that she'd actually need to study genetic engineering before she could even hope to work on a transformation device. That very fact caused her to internally groan. She'd rather pull a 24/7 shift practicing her martial arts and magic instead of trying to learn all that genetic crap. "As for my being a cat-girl," Ranma began as she watched the professor become incredibly attentive, "It's… a secret." With a smirk, she watched as Hotaru's father nearly face-faulted. 'I love doing that.'

Recovering from his near fall, Prof. Tomoe adjusted his glasses. "I see." It was obvious that he was incredibly disappointed about not receiving the answer he was seeking. "It wouldn't happen to be through some kind of genetic research, would it? You did seem like you knew exactly what genetic engineering was when I mentioned it."

"I told you, it's a secret."

"But I'm sure that--"

Ranma ignored the man's continued attempt and turned to Hotaru. "Say, Hotaru-chan, you wouldn't mind giving me a tour of the rest of your house, would you?"

Hotaru smiled brightly as she jumped to her feet and grabbed the redhead's hand. "Come on, Lina-neechan."

As they passed the white-haired man, Ranma turned to look at him and had stuck her tongue out. That action, and the fact that he had been completely ignored, had caused Prof. Tomoe to cross his arms and puff up his cheeks in complete annoyance. 'I need to know how she became part cat. The only explanation is genetic tampering.' The man thought as he decided to continue to try and figure it out.

True to his actions, Hotaru's father hadn't stopped in his quest to learn just how his daughter's friend had obtained her features. He had attempted to bring up the subject at various moments, and had rephrased his questions many times in the hopes that Ranma would finally tell him. After about the 20th attempt, Ranma's patience finally wore thin. She had finally told him that everything was the result of magic backfiring. Prof. Tomoe didn't believe her when she stated that it was cause of magic, and the cat-girl conducted a magic demonstration by creating a small fireball and singing a couple hairs on the side of the researcher's head. After that, the man was willing to believe and had backed off on talking to her again.

When it was time for Ranma to leave, Hotaru felt sad about her friend having to go. The cat-girl told her that she'd visit again sometime. She didn't know when exactly, but she'd return, and she'd bring the girl a lamp for her collection. That calmed Hotaru down a little, but she was still a little sad as she watched the cat-girl jump over the gate and disappeared from view.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

'If it wasn't for Hogwarts, I'd be able to visit her anytime.' Ranma thought in annoyance as she made her way down the sidewalk. She wondered again why she ever decided to go to that damn place. 'Oh yeah,' she recalled, 'I was interested in becoming an Auror.' For that, she'd have to finish going through the entire seven years and take a bunch of tests. Was the result really worth what it took to get there?

"Lina?" A voice asked from behind. Turning around, Ranma found that the source of the voice came from a woman of around 30 with long dark brown hair and black eyes. Positioned on the woman's back was a rather large spatula. "Wow, it's been quite a while since I saw ya, Lina. If it wasn't for those ears and tail, I wouldn't have thought anything about it."

"Ucc-- Ukyo?" Ranma asked with a blink. The last time she saw the okonomiyaki chef was nine years ago before she closed down her restaurant and had moved away. Ukyo was one of the people that Ranma had known in Nerima who took _**HIS**_ death the hardest, and the cat-girl had never once told her that _**SHE**_ was Ranma. One day it was revealed that she had just packed up and left. "Yeah, it's been nine years. Did you end up moving here in Juuban?"

Ukyo nodded at the question. "I tried to continue running my restaurant in Nerima after-- well-- Ya-Know-Who died, but there were just too many bad memories around the place. It finally got so bad that I couldn't take it, and so I closed the restaurant and left. After some traveling, I decided to stay here and re-open my restaurant."

Ranma frowned as she scratched the top of her head. It probably was a bad idea to keep her secret from the one she considered a childhood friend. Lowering her head, the cat-girl quickly caught sight of a young girl of around eight or nine with brown hair and green eyes. The unidentified child was staring at the cat-girl with a great deal of curiosity. "Hey, Ucc-- Ukyo, is this your daughter?"

"Huh? OH! No, this isn't my daughter. I'm not even married, let alone have a child." Ukyo responded with a laugh. "Her parents are away on a trip, and so I'm looking after her for them."

Ranma nodded before giving the younger girl a smile. "Yo, I'm Lina Malfoy. I've met Ukyo on occasion a few years back."

"I'm Makoto Kino." The girl greeted with her own smile. "Hey, are those ears real?" She received her answer when the cat-girl twitched her ears. "Wow, that's awesome! You must be able to hear really well."

"I don't think anyone else has as good a hearing as I do around here." Ranma answered with a smirk before glancing back at Ukyo. "How'd you come to know her, Ukyo?"

The woman thought for a moment before answering. "It was about three years ago while running my restaurant. Makoto-chan and her parents decided to eat out for dinner, and they ended up at my place. As I was cooking their okonomiyaki, Makoto-chan started talking about how she'd like to be a cook when she grows up. When I asked her why, she said so she could make people happy by eating her food. We ended up talking a little more, and after they finished, Makoto-chan and her parents left. It was just a few days later when they came back to eat because their daughter wanted to see me 'the nice lady who talked to me about how fun cooking is'." Ukyo had to stop and give off a small giggle. "I ended up getting to know their parents as well. It wasn't long before they began to ask me to watch over Makoto-chan. I've even taught her how to cook - simple foods at the moment, mind you. She seems to be quite the natural with it."

"You're also going to teach me some martial arts, right?" Makoto asked the older woman with large, pleading eyes.

Giggling at the child's antics, Ukyo nodded. "I already told ya that we'd have to discuss it with yer parents when they get back. They'll probably be okay with it, but it never hurts to ask."

"Alright." Makoto responded with a slight puffing of her cheeks. "We are going to get some ice cream though, right?"

"Well, that's where we are headed." The okonomiyaki chef answered with a nod.

Ranma's head perked up at the mention of ice cream. "Ice cream? It's okay if I come too, right?" The cat-girl combined the question a puppy-dog eyes look combined with folded ears and swishing tail. It wasn't her fault that the treat itself was practically a foible of hers.

A sweat-drop formed on Ukyo's head as the cat-girl continued to assault her with the puppy dog look x2. 'She's as effective as Ranma was with using his girl side to manipulate people.' Then again, the girl's hair was a similar shade, and the personality was almost similar to her ex-fiancé. Ukyo honestly wondered if-- nah, it was impossible. "Alright, ya can come. Just knock it off with that look, will ya?"

"Yeah!" Ranma announced as she raised an arm into the air. Her face and ears drooped a moment later. "I don't have any money, though." Well, she did have money, but most of it wasn't of Japanese currency. She probably had enough yen for ice cream, but it was better to play it safe than sorry.

Ukyo's sweat-drop increased. "I'll pay for yer ice cream as well." Did the redhead even realize what she was doing? She had an extremely powerful weapon at her disposal, and once she got older, that weapon would be 100 times more efficient.

Makoto was amazed at how good the cat-girl was at using the puppy-eyes look. 'I wish I was as good at that as her.'

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Lina-chan, I can't believe you did that." Ukyo commented in disbelief as the trio sat down at a table with the ice cream that they had ordered. Just like what the redhead had used on the older woman earlier, she had mimicked the exact same thing when the man behind the counter started putting together order. The young man had almost seemed to melt at the overly cute and adorable act that Ranma had put up by twitching her ears, swishing her tail, and staring at him with large eyes. "You actually conned an extra scoop of ice cream and a cherry off of him." For possibly the second time within half an hour, Ukyo was having flashes of a certain raven-haired boy turned girl conning some food from unsuspecting vendors. 'It has to be some crazy coincidence. Ranma died 12 years ago. Besides, Lina's only 12-years-old.' Ukyo's eyes widened as a possible connection occurred to her. She honestly didn't know the young redhead's parents, so could it be that… 'Of course not! He would never have done that.' Still, that would explain a few similarities, unless the redhead was actually Ranma reincarnated. The very idea was ludicrous, though.

"It wasn't hard." Ranma answered as she stuffed the cherry into her mouth. "I just have to activate a secret technique I like to call my Cute Charm. Depending on the situation, I act both happy and adorable, or I pretend to be sad and teary eyed." Leaning forward, Ranma pointed towards her ears and tail. "These things are also a big help. By folding my ears and having my tail drooped, the effect of being sad and depressed is increased almost ten-fold. By having my ears perked up and twitchy while having my tail swish excitedly, the cute and adorable aspect is also increased. There are other factors involved, but my ears and tail are my greatest weapon."

Makoto's spoon halted in front of her mouth. "I think it was neat, Lina-neechan, but why do you have those ears and tail? I've never seen anybody else with them."

"I was caught in an accident involving magic when I was younger." Ranma responded as she kept to the story she created. "Out of all the things that could have happened, I think I got the best outcome. Messing with magic when you don't understand a thing about it is dangerous."

The youngest of the trio was slightly skeptical over the whole magic excuse. That didn't mean that she didn't _**BELIEVE**_ in magic, it's just that it sounded like an excuse that an adult would normally give a child. However, the redhead _**DID**_ have something that could -- in Makoto's eyes -- only be gotten through magic. If it was true, then she finally had proof that magic was real!

Ukyo was less skeptical about the information. She had already heard the story when she first met the girl years ago. The restaurant owner was also familiar with the dangers of magic herself.

"Can _**YOU**_ perform any magic, Lina-neechan?" Makoto asked as a small bit of hope welled up in her chest. She almost jumped out of her chair when the cat-girl gave a small affirmative nod. "I wanna see!"

Placing a finger to her lips, Ranma glanced around the vicinity. She then slowly raised her hand and rested it on top of the table with her palm facing upward. A small flame instantly appeared and danced within her open hand before transforming into a small arrow of fire. "Is that good enough for you, Makoto-chan?" Ranma asked as she canceled the flame.

The younger girl stared at the redhead curiously. "But why don't I see a lot of other people use magic?" She watched magicians before, but then se saw a program on TV revealing how some of the tricks were really done. "There are other people, aren't there?"

Ranma scratched the base of her neck as she attempted to determine if she should tell the girl or not. It's not like telling a nine-year-old girl could cause any kind of real problem. Ukyo was also there, but she did experience several instances with magic years ago. 'Feh, what are they going to do? Strip me of my wand?' They apparently weren't allowed to use magic outside of school, but if that's the case, then why was she able to use it without the Ministry breathing down her neck? 'Eh, why not?'

Leaning forward, the redhead began to whisper so that only her companions could hear. "It's because the people who can use magic have laws in place that prevent non-magical people from finding out that magic really exists." Makoto listened in interest while Ukyo stifled a snort.

'They must have really been off their game 12 years ago, then.' The okonomiyaki chef thought humorously.

"Shops and places that cater to magical people can be found all over, but they are invisible to people who can't use magic. That means that even if you do know, there's nothing you can really do."

"But aren't there people who find out?" Makoto asked softly

"Sure," Ranma responded as she recalled something she read. "They end up getting their memory erased, though." The cat-girl added with a frown. She could understand the need for secrecy, but outright erasing a person's memory was just stupid. The Galaxy Police also practiced that for times when a person from an underdeveloped planet learnt of the existence of things their planet shouldn't know about at the time. If they ended up finding out about Hermione, Nashigi, and Gosaria… Well-- she'd be damned if she'd let their memories get erased.

Makoto's eyes widened. "Will my mind get erased because I know, Lina-neechan?" She didn't want her mind erased! She wanted to keep the knowledge that she had just found out.

"If the Ministries find out that you know, it's a possibility." At the younger girl's worrying look, Ranma raised a hand. "Hey, don't worry about it. I won't tell anyone that you know, so you won't have to worry about the big bad memory erasers coming to tamper with your mind." A smirk appeared on her lips as she ruffled Makoto's hair. "Besides, they'll have to get through me before I even let them erase one little memory in that cute little head of yours. Believe me; I'll kick their asses before they even try to do it."

A hint of pink appeared on Makoto's cheeks. "Thanks, Lina-neechan."

"No problem." Ranma responded as she quickly finished her ice cream. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Ukyo slowly eating her own confectionary treat. After the woman just up and left Nerima, Ranma honestly doubted she'd ever meet the girl again. For a year before Ukyo had left, the cat-girl debated on whether she should let her child-hood friend -- as well as other people she knew -- in on that she was really Ranma. The problem was that after having her physiology changed to carry Masu DNA, there was a chance that too many people around Nerima would learn of the secret that the Masakis kept. So with that, Katsuhito had managed to get her to agree that she wouldn't reveal herself to anyone from her previous life. That agreement, however, didn't apply to Akane, Kasumi, Nodoka, or Ryoga since she had already revealed herself to them. The man could be quite persuasive when he wanted to be.

Hell, if it wasn't for _**'persuasive'**_ agreement, she probably would have revealed herself to Ukyo. Instead, whenever she had visited Nerima, she had to sit back, act like an almost normal two-year-old, and watch her old friend get more and more depressed with being in Nerima. It honestly pissed her off!

"Ya okay, Lina-chan?" Ukyo asked as she watched the young redhead's mood progressively darken.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine Ucc-- Ukyo-san! I'm just annoyed because I couldn't remember a few elements from the periodic table! Ha-ha…" Scratching her cheek for a moment, the redhead had to sweat-drop. 'I think I just sounded like a geek with that lame excuse.'

'That was kind of geeky.' Ukyo thought with her own sweat-drop. "So, did you finally figure them out?"

Thinking fast, the cat-girl nodded. "Yeah, they're a few I always forget: Darmstradtium, Roentgenium, Unubium, and Ununoctium. They tend to slip my mind at times!" She promptly placed a hand to the side of her head. 'Crap, I really do sound like a geek these days. What did I ever do to you, Washu-chan?'

Makoto could only stare. "Darmstu-- Daruma-- Dama-- What the heck are those?" She asked with a rather weird look on her face. Ukyo, likewise, had a rather blank look on her features.

"Wow, you really know your elements." Ranma turned around to catch sight of the speaker. When she did, her eye began to twitch violently. The stranger was a boy of around 13 or so with tinted glasses that shined almost maniacally in the light. The thing that really disturbed the redhead the most was that as soon as she looked at him, the boy's cheeks seemed to turn red. "I'm honestly amazed to come across someone who could remember the names of those elements and pronounce them perfectly. You apparently take your learning seriously, and I applaud you for that." The boy kept adjusting his glasses and allowing the light to shine off of them.

"Uh-- Thanks." Ranma responded as her fist began to clench.

"By the way," Glasses began with an almost fanatic sound to his voice. "Are those ears and tail truly real? Do you ever have the desire to chase mice or play with yarn? Do you take special care of your appendages?" The boy kept on jumping around Ranma and asking questions. "You don't mind if I study you, do you? Is the fur on your ears and tail soft? Huh, huh?" He proceeded to reach out and grab onto Ranma's tail.

Almost immediately, a painful jolt flew up Ranma's spine and caused her hair and ear fur to stand on end. Without any warning, the cat-girl spun around and delivered a powerful uppercut to the boy's chin and sent him flying into the wall. "You want some more of that? Well come on and try grabbing my tail again, buddy. You'll find yourself in the hospital for the rest of your life!" Glancing down, Ranma noticed the boy's glasses. Using her foot, she tossed the spectacles into the air and snatched them with her hand before crushing them. "And get some new glasses that don't make you look like a damn Gendo Ikari rip-off!"

Not receiving any kind of answer but a low groan of pain, Ranma spun around and made her way out the door of the ice cream shop. After sharing a quick glance, Ukyo and Makoto decided to chase after the young cat-girl. "Lina-neechan, wait!" Makoto shouted as she caught up with Ranma. After catching her breath, the young brunette gave a wide smile. "That punch was awesome! You really sent that jerk flying."

Nearly face-faulting over something she hadn't expected the girl to say, Ranma gave Makoto a smile and a chuckle. "Thanks, kid."

"Do you also know any martial arts?"

"Sure do," Ranma answered. "I'm not all that bad, if I do say so myself."

'Why are there so many coincidences?!' Ukyo internally shouted in annoyance. 'Ranchan died 12 years ago, and Lina is 12-years-old. Lina has red hair just like Ranchan's cursed form, and Lina even has some blue in her eyes that was the same color as his. They act somewhat the same, and they both like martial arts.' There had to be a connection. Her first thought was that maybe -- since she didn't know the girl's parents -- Lina could be Ranma's illegitimate child. However, if that were to happen, everyone would end up knowing, and the news would spread like crazy. It was like the young cat-girl was there to torment her. With a large degree of sadness, Ukyo gave off a sigh. "Ranchan…"

"Yeah?" Ranma asked without thinking. She then halted completely in her tracks with her eyes wide in shock. Turning her head slightly, heterochromatic eyes caught a look of shock and disbelief flashing through the older woman's features. 'Gotta think quickly.' Ranma thought to herself. "Y-- Yeah, I do kind of like yarn balls, Makoto-chan. There's just something about them." Internally, she was smirking. 'Nice save, Ranma.'

Ukyo's eyes narrowed at the attempted save. She didn't believe it for a second. The cat-girl had responded absent-mindedly to her use of 'Ranchan'. The girl also had a shocked look on her face before beginning a rather nervous sentence to make it seem as if that's what she was going to say. 'It could just be an even bigger coincidence.' Ukyo thought as she puffed up her cheeks in annoyance. 'Lina' would probably be on her guard after that, so how could she… that's it! With a smile, the 30-year-old turned her attention to Makoto.

"Makoto-chan, have I ever told you the story that just a few days before he died, Ranma and I had the most romantic time of our lives? On that night, he gave me the most romantic kiss."

"Wow, that's so romantic, Ukyo-bachan." Makoto responded with sparkly eyes.

"Did not!" Ranma refuted before gaining a 'deer caught in the headlights' look.

A faux-curious look appeared on Ukyo's face. "Oh? How would you know such a thing, Lina-chan? You weren't even around at that time."

The cat-girl began to sweat. The jig was up, but there had to be something she could do. 'That's it! That's the only course of action.' Putting on a shocked look, Ranma pointed behind her two companions. "Look, a pig dressed as a clown handing out pamphlets!" The very thought of anyone falling for that was ludicrous.

"Where?" Ukyo and Makoto asked as they turned around.

"…" Ranma was absolutely speechless that they had fallen for it. She decided to not look a gift horse in the mouth and proceeded to teleport away; via a revision of the classic Saotome Anything Goes Final Attack.

"Uh-- Lina-chan, there was nothing…" The older of the two brunettes stared at the vacant spot that originally contained a certain redheaded cat-girl. 'That proves it! Lina's Ranma! That little brat's been pretending all this time.'

"Ukyo-bachan," Makoto began with a hint of sadness, "Why did Lina-neechan have to leave like that?"

"She probably had somewhere she had to be, and she didn't want to bother with saying goodbye and possibly seeing you sad. I'm sure you'll see each other again." Ukyo reassured while patting the young girl on the head. 'I can't believe that little-- When we see each other again, we're going to have a little talk.' The okonomiyaki chef thought darkly.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Reappearing near the lake next to the Masaki home, Ranma let a relieved sigh escape from her lips. However, the problem still remained that Ukyo probably knew for certain that she was Ranma due to those two little slips. "I can't believe I did that!" The cat-girl stated with a groan.

"Did what?" A voice asked from behind.

Ranma spun around to come face to face with Katsuhito. 'How can everyone sneak up on me like they do?' She thought for a moment before responded. "Err-- nothing at all, old man."

"Really?" Katsuhito inquired as he slowly stroked his chin. "It seems that something is indeed troubling you. It wouldn't be that you're having second thoughts about telling your friends the secret, would it?" The light managed to catch his glasses.

Ranma proceeded to cross her arms. "We already went over this. I trust them to keep everything a secret and not tell anyone else about it. Gosaria might be ditsy and somewhat absent-minded, and Nashigi may be loud, but they can keep a secret. Hermione's also wanted to meet Washu-chan, and Washu-chan's taken an interest in Hermione's thirst for knowledge."

The Shinto priest nodded slightly at the redhead's response. Exceptions could possibly be made for their three guests. It was a matter that would have to be taken to the Jurai Royal family and Galaxy Police later on, but considering how certain individuals -- Seto being one of them -- had an interest in the young cat-girl, it was safe to assume that things would turn out alright. "If that's not what you were worried about, then what _**IS**_ the problem?"

"Nothing!" Ranma received a rather convincing 'Tell me now' look. Now normally, she wouldn't cave over something like that. However, Katsuhito wasn't exactly a frail old man, and he knew many unpleasant ways to get his information. Plus, Ranma really didn't want to be forced into doing chores around the shrine for a long time to come. "Alright," The cat-girl began as she scratched the base of her ponytail. "I may have… accidentally revealed myself to someone I knew from my previous life."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I ran into her after I went to visit Hotaru-chan. She and a kid she was watching were going to get some ice cream, and I tagged along. Long-story-short, I was feeling bad about not telling her a long time ago and having her become increasingly sad. When she said sadly said 'Ranchan', I responded. I tried covering up, but then she tricked me. After that, I distracted them before quickly teleporting back here!" The young redhead explained at a fast clip before averting her eyes.

Katsuhito stared at Ranma for a few moments before responding. "So you ended up revealing yourself to a person from your past when you knew you weren't supposed to?"

"Err-- Yeah."

"Do you know what must be done now?"

Ranma's ears twitched. "Ignore it and hope the problem goes away?"

"No, you must…" Ranma's body tensed as she listened. "Explain the truth to her."

The cat-girl fell forward and onto her face. "Wait-- What?" She asked as she pushed herself back to her feet. "What about all that secrecy crap?"

"You already revealed yourself to her, so I'd say that she already knows the secret. The most you can do now is to admit the truth the next time you see her."

Ranma didn't like it, but she couldn't fault the man's logic. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"By the way, Ranma," Katsuhito began, "Over the next three years, whenever you are able to visit, you're going to have to perform some chores around the shrine for me." Upon Ranma's incredulous look, he continued. "Oh, you didn't think I'd you off without at least _**SOME**_ punishment, did you? You did break the word you gave me years ago."

"Oh c'mon, it was an accident!" The cat-girl shouted at the retreating back of the Shinto priest. Upon not receiving an answer, she grumbled and made her way into the Masaki house. One of the first things she noticed was that Mihoshi and Gosaria were planted on the sofa right in front of the TV. Curiously, Ranma made her way over and glanced at what they were watching. She noted that it was the lame comedy show with the black and white humanoid guy on it. 'I'll never understand why people find this so funny.'

"For the last time," one of the characters in the skit said, "Give me a break!"

Mihoshi began to laugh after the phrase was stated. Meanwhile, Gosaria scratched her head and had a rather perplexed look on her face. "I don't get it," the younger blonde stated. "How is that even funny? Nothing even happened."

"H-- He said 'give me a break'!" Mihoshi responded through her laughing. "It's such a classic!"

Gosaria tilted her head and continued to look perplexed. "But _**HOW**_ is it funny? I don't see how saying 'give me a break' is funny." She knew funny, and this kind of thing was not funny. Even the people in the audience were laughing at it. Was it some kind of strange alien thing?

A smirk appeared on Ranma's lips. Perhaps there was some hope for the young blonde after-all. "Gosaria, don't worry about it. If I haven't found these guys to be funny within the last 10 years, there's nothing wrong you not finding them funny either."

"That's good." Gosaria answered with a nod. "I thought I was weird for not finding it funny. I'm glad to know that it's not me."

As Ranma opened her mouth to respond, a blur raced towards her and jumped behind her. The cat-girl easily identified the person behind her as Nashigi. "Lina, I hate to be a bother, but could you please help keep the psychotic and crazy woman away from me? I _**WOULD**_ use my magic, but then I'd end up getting in trouble for under-aged magic. So, pretty please, help your dear friend out of her dilemma!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ranma asked with a raised eyebrow. "Who the hell is chasing after you?"

As if to answer her question, Ryoko phased up through the floor. "I haven't had this much fun in a long time!" The ex-space pirate announced before laughing. "She runs away like a scared little mouse!"

Nashigi responded by puffing up her chest and putting her hands on her hips. "You wouldn't be saying that if I could use my magic!"

"Uh-- What's going on here?" Ranma asked.

The dark-haired girl extended her arm and pointed directly at the cyan-haired Masu. "This woman, along with her purple-haired friend, tried to outright attack me. When I got away, she began chasing and stalking me all over the house! I didn't do anything to provoke either of them!"

"Don't try and play innocent, kid." Ryoko responded with a roll of her eyes. "You kept on using that wail of yours. Even after you were threatened, you _**STILL**_ used it. We were merely trying to get you to shut that trap of yours. Of course, I find chasing you to be quite fun."

"Be grateful that _**BOTH**_ Nashigi and her mom aren't here, Ryoko." Ranma responded. "It would be the exact same thing… in stereo." She watched as the ex-space pirate's eye began to twitch violently.

A pout appeared on Nashigi's lips. "You can be so mean, Lina!"

"Yeah, yeah," the cat-girl responded with a wave of her hand. "Anyway, where's Hermione at?"

"Last time I saw, your little friend was talking to Washu." Ryoko answered with a hint of non-interest. "She mentioned that your friend has the makings of an excellent student, but regretfully, Washu wouldn't be able or willing to take on another full-time student."

A slight frown appeared on Ranma's lips. "Hermione must have been bummed out by that information." For some reason, the admission that Washu was unwilling to take on another student cause an odd feeling of contentedness to bubble up. 'It's not like Washu-chan would want to go all the way back to the basics anyway.'

"She's going to make Hermione her own laptop, though." Nashigi piped up.

Ranma nodded at that information. When Hermione had first set eyes onto the cat-girl's laptop, she had wished that she could have one of her own. Now that she was getting her own, Hermione was probably over-flowing with glee.

Ryoko honestly didn't care who got a laptop or not. "Hey, pipsqueak," she began as she placed a hand on top of the cat-girl's head, "Think you can spare some time later on? It's been a while since we've battled it out, and I want to see if being cooped up in that school all year has made you as soft as jelly."

Ranma's lips curled into a wide smirk. She really did miss the occasional fight she used to always have with the older Masu. Those fights allowed her to hone her Masu abilities. "Just name the time and place where you want me to kick your ancient ass."

"7:00pm, and meet me above the lake, kitty." The cyan-haired woman answered as she extended a fist.

"I'll be waiting, old mummy." Ranma responded as she touched Ryoko's fist with her own.

xxA.Nxx

Wow, this chapter turned out to be my longest one yet. At about 23.5k words, it's the most of any chapter of any one of my stories. xx


	22. Just Spending Some Time With Friends

Wild Magic

Wild Magic

Ranma 1/2, Slayers, Harry Potter, and any other series used in this fanfic are owned by their respective creators/publishers/whatever

Thanks to CyberSkaarj and the people of Fukufics for pre-reading.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Chapter 22

At exactly 7PM, Ranma and Ryoko met each other above the lake. The news of the two's fight had spread around the Masaki house, and so the residents of the home -- as well as Hermione, Nashigi, and Gosaria -- were currently sitting around on the deck to watch. They had even brought some snacks to enjoy while the fight went on. One thought that ran through everyone's mind was how much the young cat-girl had improved since they had last seen her.

The three guests to the house were curious because they didn't know how good Ranma was at martial arts. While Hermione had known that the cat-girl was a martial artist, she had never seen her in action. Gosaria and Nashigi knew of, and had watched some of, Ranma's morning warm-ups in the Slytherin common room, but they had never witnessed much of their friend's real training. They had managed to go, but Happosai had somewhat freaked them out. To date, the three of them had more knowledge of the redhead's magic skill than her fighting abilities.

"Are there any rules that you'd like to place, Ryoko?" Ranma asked as she scratched the base of her ponytail.

"Same as usual, Pipsqueak." Ryoko answered from a cross-legged position. The 'usual' meant that their fight would be no holds barred with the exception of Ranma not being allowed to use any magic spells, and Ryoko would go 'easy' on her. 'Going easy' basically meant that the ex-space pirate would use just enough of her power to give the cat-girl a challenge, but not enough to completely waste said cat-girl.

Ranma nodded in response. The redhead wasn't delusional, and knew that Ryoko went 'easy' on her for her own health. She knew that if they had both used everything they had, the older Masu would win without question. She had her martial arts training and skills, but Ryoko was over 5,000-years-old, tricky, and had an incredible amount of raw power. Ranma would be able to keep up for a while, but the ex-space pirate would end with the upper hand. Likewise, if Ranma was able to use certain spells in her arsenal, she would have been able to easily win.

Silence ensued as the two fighters stared at each other for a long moment. Down by the house, Gosaria was about to open her mouth to say something, but was silenced when motes of light began to form around both fighters. The motes of light around Ryoko were orange-yellow, while the motes of light around Ranma were a light red color. When the two Masu held out their hands, the spheres gathered into their palms, and each formed a 15-inch energy sword.

Without even a warning, the two combatants charged at each other and met; both swords struggling to get past the other. After a moment with neither gaining the upper hand, they shared an almost identical smirk before leaping back. Ranma had to make a quick dodge to avoid the energy sword that Ryoko had tossed at her. The cat-girl proceeded to raise her sword to block the downward slice that the ex-space pirate had proceeded to follow up with.

Pushing her opponent's sword to the side, Ranma charged forward and only sliced air as the older woman teleported from view. The redhead stood there in wait, and when her senses began to warn her, she spun around and blocked another slash before pushing forward and managing to cut a small line in Ryoko's outfit.

Leaping backwards, Ryoko examined the cut in her clothing. "Not bad, shrimp," She praised, "Usually it takes longer for you to do something like that."

"I've been practicing." Ranma answered with a smirk. After getting the hang of the doppelganger ability, she would usually train against it when she didn't have to go to Xellos or Happosai. "You've probably been sitting on your ass all day, though, right?"

The ex-space pirate raised an eyebrow at the young redhead's cheek. Her own smirk appeared on her lips as she extended her other hand and formed a second energy blade. "Then how about we take it up a notch?" At the slightly slack-jawed look on her opponent's face, Ryoko gave a rather sadistic chuckle. "Well, since you're obviously so good, I wanted to see if you could handle yourself against two blades."

"Now wait just a--" Ranma halted as she quickly raised her sword to block a swing before ducking under the other. She was soon on the defensive as Ryoko -- who was providing amused taunts -- pushed her back with both energy blades. While Ryoko didn't have the power backing the attacks like she usually did with one sword, she had the speed to make up for it. The energy blades were still as dangerous as ever.

After dodging for almost a full minute, Ranma halted in place before quickly pushing the left blade out of the way and spinning around the right and giving her opponent a slash to the side; or she would have if said opponent hadn't teleported just as she had slashed. "Damn it."

A split second later -- to the shock and horror of Hermione, Gosaria, and Nashigi, -- Ryoko teleported back into view and quickly sliced off Ranma's sword hand. "You know, Ranma, if I remember correctly, you've been told many times not to over-extend yourself. Just how many times will you have to have your hand sliced off?"

"Yeah, yeah," the cat-girl responded as she -- to the even greater shock of her three friends -- regenerated her missing hand. If her opponent hadn't teleported, she would have scored a successful hit.

"Her hand was cut off!" Nashigi shouted as she jumped to her feet. "How did she grow it back like that?"

"It's because of her Masu physiology." Noike supplied. "Both she and Ryoko can replace their limbs if they end up losing them in some way."

Gosaria tilted her head. "You know, that's kind of handy." The statement caused several sweat-drops to form.

"I know!" Mihoshi said happily. "Could you imagine if they couldn't replace their limbs and ended up having a leg cut off? The other would have a leg up on the other."

"And wouldn't one of them then need a peg leg?" The younger blonde asked. "That would be strange."

Washu -- along with everyone else -- slapped a hand to her forehead and audibly groaned.

Back with the fight, Ranma charged forward and weaved between Ryoko's energy blades. Once she got close enough, the redhead attacked with a quick flurry of punches via Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken re-training. She had managed to land quite a number of punches before nimbly dodging an attempted fist to the face. Before her opponent could react, Ranma gave a quick and sharp kick to Ryoko's stomach and knocked the ex-space pirate back a few feet.

Quickly righting herself, Ryoko placed a hand to her stomach. 'She really has gotten stronger and faster.' The cyan-haired woman thought as she began dodging a string of fluid and quick attacks. Reaching out, Ryoko grabbed hold of the fist that was just about to land another blow. Tightening her grip, she spun around and sent the redhead flying for a few meters. As her opponent gained control of herself, Ryoko extended her arm the palm of her hand facing forward.

Firing off a of couple energy spheres, she watched as Ranma brought up a protection barrier; causing the blasts to collide harmlessly with the shield. Not letting up, Ryoko fired several more shots and noticed that the cat-girl seemed to be having a hard time keeping the protection up for very long. With a sinister smirk appearing on her lips, Ryoko began gathering energy into her hand. A second later, she fired off a large beam that collided with Ranma's shield and broke right through it; exploding on contact as soon as it hit the redhead.

When the dust settled, Ryoko found herself frowning in annoyance. Instead of a scuffed-up 12-year-old cat-girl, there was a scuffed up doll that had the exact likeness of said cat-girl. "Damn it, why did Washu have to teach her that?" Ryoko asked in annoyance as she glanced around for any sign of her opponent.

"Because it's kinda fun, actually." A voice from above answered. Turning her head skyward, the ex-space pirate caught sight of Ranma; floating horizontally. The cat-girl was slightly singed, so there was at least some satisfaction. Ryoko also noticed that the younger girl's fist had an almost flame-like aura around it.

"Hey, Pipsqueak, we agreed on no magic use."

"Actually," Ranma argued with a smirk, "We agreed on no magic _**SPELLS**_. There was nothing about not using the mana itself." The cat-girl proceeded to pull her fist back before quickly throwing it forward. "Hiryu Shoten Ha!" Both the heat generated from the mana _**AND**_ the coolness of Ranma's aura combined easily to create a rather large tornado that engulfed Ryoko and spiraled downward towards the lake. Following up on this, she fired several energy spheres directly into the swirling mass of wind and collected lake water.

"Outstanding," Washu announced with a clearly visible interest, "She managed to successfully combine her mana and ki into the technique. That way, she doesn't have to rely on an outside source of heat that could end up turning unreliable."

"But isn't that tornado a magic attack of some sort?" Hermione asked in disbelief as she stared at the twisting and roaring tornado.

"No, that's a martial arts technique." Sasami provided with a shake of her head. That caused the three guests to give her an odd look. "Ranma-chan stated once that the technique works by combining a calm and cool aura with a source of incredible heat and energy."

A perplexed look appeared on Gosaria's face as she placed a finger to her chin. "That makes no sense. How do two different temperatures create a tornado?"

"I actually agree with Gosaria." Nashigi added. "If it was magic, I could understand."

"That was all Ranma would say." Tenchi supplied. "She mentioned that it was a secret technique belonging to a secret Chinese village of warrior women, and that she wasn't going to piss them off by giving away secrets."

Hermione, Gosaria, and Nashigi stared at each other upon the mention of 'secret Chinese village of warrior women'. The idea was odd, but considering everything they'd learned and witnessed, it wasn't that unbelievable or weird.

Up above, Ranma was caught slightly off-guard when Ryoko practically burst out from the twister and caught her in the stomach with a fast and powerful punch. Wincing as she clutched her stomach, Ranma was unable to react to a large energy beam at point-blank range that sent her flying back several meters. She managed to right herself again, but had to shake her head a little to get rid of the slight ringing sensation. "What the hell?"

"Hey, if you can bend the rules a little, so can I." Ryoko answered with an amused laugh as she shot forward.

Frowning slightly, Ranma positioned her hands into claws and formed a small layer of ki as she weaved between the barrages of energy blasts. When Ryoko was right upon her, the cat-girl dodged quickly to the left and answered with a flurry of claw slashes. A small portion of Ryoko's outfit in the back was shredded, and her body itself was sporting several deep and painful looking scratches.

Teleporting to a safe distance, Ryoko reached behind her and winced painfully as she ran her fingers against the claw marks. The glare she directed at Ranma was all the warning the cat-girl had received before several dozen spheres of energy appeared in the air around the glaring Ryoko.

'Shit,' Ranma cursed as every single ball of energy shot towards her at high velocity. While she had managed to dodge several of them, a great number had smashed right into her and caused her body to feel as if she had gone 20 rounds with a speeding van. When Ryoko formed several more spheres for a repeat performance, Ranma teleported to a position behind the older woman and attempted a roundhouse kick to the side of her head. Ryoko ducked under the kick before attempting a fast and powerful uppercut to the redhead's chin.

Another quick teleport allowed Ranma to reappear right before her opponent and direct a punch towards the woman's gut. To the cat-girl's annoyance, Ryoko managed to grab onto her wrist. The older Masu yanked the redhead towards her and brought her knee up in an attempt to ram it into the younger's gut.

Ranma managed to see the knee coming and used her free hand to push herself up and ram the top of her head into the older woman's chin. The force of the blow caused Ryoko to let go of the cat-girl's hand, and with both of her hands free, Ranma positioned her arms into an 'X' formation with her claws facing outward. Leaping forward, the cat-girl slashed at her opponent, and bounced off due to the force-field that Ryoko had created at the last moment.

With her barrier still up, the ex-space pirate re-formed a pair of energy blades. As soon as she canceled the barrier, Ryoko charged towards her opponent and tossed one of her swords at the cat-girl. When Ranma dodged to the right, Ryoko followed and brought her remaining blade downward… only to hit air when the cat-girl vanished and reappeared behind her and gave her a quick kick in the back.

Ryoko spun around to face her opponent, but couldn't react in time before a foot smashed into her face and sent the cyan-haired woman flying back several feet. Coming to a stop and managing to right herself, Ryoko raised her hand and ran it across her nose. When she noticed that quite a bit of blood had come from her nose, the ex-space pirate's lips turned into a sinister smirk.

At the sight of the older woman's facial expression, Ranma started to sweat. She knew that look. It meant that Ryoko was done playing around with her, and that the woman was ready to end the fight; in a way that meant a great deal of pain for the redhead. She was about to say something, but was interrupted as a large beam accompanied by dozens of smaller energy balls careened towards her. Putting her teleporting and dodging skills into use, Ranma managed to avoid the entire barrage. She came to a stop, however, when an energy sword shot past the side of her head from behind; leaving a three inch long cut on her cheek in the process. Turning her head, Ranma noticed that Ryoko -- with a deceptively friendly look upon her face -- was right behind her. The cat-girl would have moved away, but the ex-space pirate had a firm grip on her arm.

Ranma cursed to herself in annoyance. It seemed that Ryoko wanted to end the fight, and she wanted to end the fight by completely and utterly kicking her ass into submission. 'Perhaps', the cat-girl though, 'kicking her in the face was a bad move.'

"Don't be so tense, Ranma-chan." Ryoko stated in a rather sweet voice. "I'm not going to hurt you _**THAT**_ bad."

"What, you expect me to believe that?" Ranma asked with a raised eyebrow. Without warning, the cat-girl ducked, formed an energy sword in her free hand, and sliced off the hand that was gripping her other arm. As the ex-space pirate was recovering, Ranma teleported to a safe distance… which wasn't so safe due to Ryoko instantly appearing behind her. "Damn!" The cat-girl cursed again before dodging and teleporting away from several energy blade strikes and an energy blast.

The two continued to play an odd cat-and-mouse game for the next few minutes; Ranma would teleport away or try and fight back, and Ryoko would follow and beat her at each turn. After another moment, the cat-girl completely vanished from sight, and Ryoko was left to try and figure out where her prey had gone.

"Hey, did you actually run away or something, pipsqueak?" Ryoko asked as she turned her head in every direction to try and find the younger girl. "Where the hell are you?"

Ranma could only blink in confusion from her spot right in front of the cyan-haired woman. She was standing in plain sight, so why was the older Masu acting like she didn't know she was there. 'What the hell is going on?' The cat-girl asked as she glanced down; only to notice that she was completely invisible. "The hell?!" With that shout, she came back into full view.

"So you were using that Umisenken thing to hide?" Ryoko asked. 'If that's true, then why did she just drop it?'

The redhead shook her head vigorously. "No, I didn't even attempt to suppress my ki! It just happened when I was doing all those teleports. I never even realized that I was actually invisible!" She tried doing it again, but only found herself teleporting. "I don't even know how I did it!" She'd be damned if it wasn't cool, though.

Sitting with everyone else down below, Washu had an interesting look in her eyes that appeared as soon as Ranma had mentioned that. 'I wonder…'

Back in the air, Ranma was scratching the base of her ponytail as she attempted to figure out how to do what she did again. She had never even felt any kind of strain that usually accompanied the use of the Umisenken. Hell, with the Umisenken, she was never TRULY invisible to begin with, and she could always at least see herself. With what she did just now, though, not even she could see herself.

Ranma was brought out of her musings by a hand that was placed on her shoulder. "Huh?" She asked as she glanced up to see a smirking Ryoko.

"We're still in the middle of a fight, Pipsqueak."

With how her current position was, and the fact that Ryoko also had a couple doppelgangers surrounding her, there was only one thing Ranma could say. "Damn…"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma winced as she lowered herself into the hot water of the Masaki floating bath house. To say that she hurt would be an incredibly gross understatement. Almost every part of her body -- including her ears and tail -- was in some kind of pain. Her entire form felt bruised, battered, beaten, and stiff. Ranma was actually glad that she hadn't used any magic spells during the fight, because she could now use her mana to heal herself.

"I guess I got a little carried away during our fight." Ryoko announced with a laugh as she appeared next to the younger girl with a bottle of sake in one hand. "You lasted longer than I thought you would, Shrimp." The cyan-haired woman proceeded to take a few sips of sake. "You managed to keep up even when I created two clones. It's too bad the fight ended up being stopped."

"If we hadn't stopped that so-called fight, you would have continued until you completely incapacitated her." Ayeka stated from behind the two as she washed herself off. "And since Ranma-chan -- despite being outnumbered -- wouldn't back down and insisted on continuing until such a thing happened, the fight had to be stopped."

"Yeah," Laira began softly from her spot next to the cat-girl, "I couldn't continue watching after the first blow to your eye, momma." The young cabbit stared up at the black eye that resulted from the hit. "That black eye looks really painful."

Ranma managed to wave a hand. "It's not that big of a deal. I heal fast, and I also have my magic to help. Besides, I kind of figured it would end up happening anyway." She _**WAS**_ fighting an incredibly powerful and somewhat sadistic brawler, after-all. "I would have done better if my doppelgangers were better. They're only good for training against for a short time right now; not for use in a fight."

Ryoko reached out and -- in a friendly manner -- wrapped an arm around the redhead's shoulder. "I'm actually surprised you've improved this much even though you're cooped up in that school all year." The ex-space pirate took another sip of sake. "And you actually seem to be more comfortable than you used to be. Usually, even after all the time you've spent here, you'd be all fidgety and shy about being around others in the bath."

"Yeah, well in each house at Hogwarts, there's only two baths. One of them is for the boys, and the other is for the girls." Ranma explained as she placed a hand over the black eye that Laira had mentioned and began to chant a healing spell. "Sometimes, almost the entire female populace of the house takes a bath at the same time. It took a while, but I actually managed to get completely used to it, and I don't have too much of a problem anymore."

A devious look appeared on Ryoko's features. Without warning, she pulled the young cat-girl close. "Oh, so you really are comfortable with being close to another woman while taking a bath?"

Ranma's face flushed deep red, and -- with a speed that Ryoko couldn't even track -- pushed herself away from the woman and jumped to the other side of Laira; wincing as she did so due to her bruises.

"Ha, so you still have _**SOME**_ feeling of discomfort!" Ryoko announced in victory. That meant she could still tease and torment the redhead while in the bath house. "So much for not having a problem anymore; right, Shorty?"

"Contact's different, okay?" Ranma responded in annoyance as she sunk down into the water.

"Ryoko!" Ayeka shouted. "That was a completely uncultured thing to do!"

"Oh put a sock in it, princess." Ryoko shot back with a dismissive wave of her hand. "It's been completely boring around this place without the Pipsqueak. Now that she's back, at least for a couple more days, I can have some amusement."

"Boring?" Ayeka asked with an almost angry look. Said look piqued Ranma and Laira's curiosity. "How can you say it's been boring around here? Just last month, you actually managed to seduce Tenchi!"

Ranma -- hitting her head on a rock above her in the process -- shot straight up from the water. After rubbing her head, she and Laira stared straight at the ex-space pirate in disbelief. "No way," the cat-girl began, "You mean it finally happened?"

Ryoko leveled a glare at Ayeka. "Oh don't play innocent, Ayeka. Just a few days later, you did the exact same thing! In fact--"

Ayeka stuttered at the accusation. "I-- Ryoko-- Do not say such deviant things in front of innocent and impressionable ears!" The purple-haired princess shouted as she glanced at Ryo-Ohki, Laira, and Ranma.

"Impressionable my ass!" Ryoko growled out. "The Pipsqueak is mentally 30-years-old." A grin appeared on the ex-space pirate's lips. "Besides, she'd probably like to hear the details so she could go and congratulate her buddy Tenchi on his achievement."

"Um-- Actually, I think it's time I get out of the bath." The cat-girl answered as she turned to leave; only to be grabbed by the hair and yanked into Ryoko's arms. "Hey, let me go. I don't wanna hear the damn details!"

Laira placed her hands over her ears. "Yeah, I don't want to know either. If you tell momma, I'll end up knowing as well." The cabbit whined.

"Why would you reveal things like that anyway, Ryoko-neechan?" Ryo-Ohki asked with a frown.

"Yes, Ryoko, they don't need to know!" Ayeka shouted as she attempted to reach out and grab the cat-girl. She was stopped, however, when Ryoko pushed her back with an energy blast.

The ex-space pirate laughed. "Oh lighten up, Ayeka." She proceeded to lower her head towards Ranma's ear. "Listen up, Shrimp. I'm sure you'll just love the details. You see, it all started when I…" Ryoko trailed off, and instead of telling the cat-girl anything else, she pushed her down into the water. As the older woman held Ranma under the water, she gave off a loud and amused laugh. "Did you really think that I'd actually tell you? My god, you are _**SO**_ fun to torment." She really did miss having the redhead around.

Ryoko's amusement was short-lived as Ranma burst out of the water and planted a foot directly into the woman's face. Ranma's own face was tinged pink in both embarrassment and annoyance. "Grow up, ya old hag!" As she lowered her leg, the stiffness and pain of her body came back to her and caused her to fall back onto her ass in the water. 'Damn, that was painful.' The cat-girl thought as she glanced towards Ryoko. The force of her kick had actually been enough to send the woman back a few feet and into unconsciousness. Ryo-Ohki was over the by woman and giving her a few pokes to the cheek, and Ayeka was actually laughing over what had just happened to Ryoko.

The opening of the entryway caused the cat-girl to turn her head. Heterochromatic eyes watched as Sasami -- accompanied by an awed Hermione, Gosaria, and Nashigi -- made their way into the bath house. When the blue-haired princess noticed that Ryoko was rather _**indisposed**_ of at the moment, she ended up running over to see what had happened. Meanwhile, the three girls who had accompanied her were taking in the place with wide eyes. The first one to notice the cat-girl was Hermione, and she didn't waste any time in making her way over to her friend.

"Lina," the brown haired girl began as she halted at the edge of the water, "Are you alright? That was a terrible beating you took during that fight." Hermione proceeded to place a hand to her mouth in shock when she got a proper look at the redhead's eyes. "Look at your eye-- Both eyes! You really should get some medical treatment. I've heard that ice is good--"

"Relax," Ranma answered with a wave of her hand, "It's not all that big of a deal; I already used a healing spell. Everything will mostly be back to normal in the morning. Besides, I don't hurt as much as I did after the fight ended."

Kneeling at the edge of the water, Gosaria tilted her head. "So it looks worse than it really is?" The blonde asked as she took a finger and pressed it against the cat-girl's shoulder. The pained reaction from said cat-girl caused Gosaria to frown. "I guess it really hurts as bad as it looks."

"_**OF COURSE**_ it'd hurt if ya _**JABBED**_ your damn fingers into it!" Ranma responded in annoyance as she whacked the blonde upside the head with a fist.

"Owwww…" Gosaria whined as she rubbed the spot where she had been hit.

Ignoring the whining of her friend, Ranma turned around and rested her back against the edge of the bath. Raising her hand, she attempted to mimic the -- rather spontaneous -- invisibility that she had achieved earlier. Try as she might, she couldn't even make herself blink for even a second. After a couple more tries, she decided that she'd probably have to go and check with Washu after getting out of the bath.

Ranma was brought out of her musings when her friends made their way into the water next to her. "You know, Lina," Nashigi began as she allowed herself to sink down to her chin, "I'm finding myself to be a little jealous of you."

"Why are you jealous of momma?" Laira asked curiously from the other side of the cat-girl.

"She's been able to spend almost 10 years around things like this. I've always wanted to experience space travel and such things from muggle movies and TV, but you," Nashigi turned her head to look at the younger girl, "have spent all this time experiencing the things I've wanted to. Laira's even your own portable space ship computer."

Ranma stared at Nashigi for a fer moments before a smirk formed on her lips. "Hey, look at it this way. You have an incredibly awesome friend who has allowed ya to experience what you've always wanted to see."

"That's true." Nashigi answered as she crossed her arms. "However, you do realize that what you said came off as a little too cocky and full of yourself, right?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ranma asked in annoyance as Hermione, Gosaria, and Laira giggled. "At least I'm not a delusional, large-breasted banshee who believes herself to be a rival of someone else."

"Oh Lina," Nashigi stated with a rather sad smile, "Must you always fall back on the taunts about my laugh and bust size? I'm aware that you're jealous of me for those marvelous traits, but--" She was promptly pushed below the surface of the water via an elbow from the cat-girl next to her.

"Lina," Hermione began, "I've been wondering ever since you got us those Moon rocks. What exactly is it like on the Moon?"

"Desolate and silent." Ranma responded simply as she scratched her head. "Because of my physiology, I don't suffer from the spatial vacuum. However, I do feel a very minimal amount of pressure at first, but the feeling gradually goes away." Crossing her arms, Ranma attempted to think up some more to say. "It's just a huge lifeless rock full of craters, vacant sea beds, and crumbled ruins of an old and forgotten Moon kingdom--"

Oddly enough, it was Gosaria that was the quickest to point out the weird part of the description. "Did you just say Moon kingdom?"

"Huh?" Ranma asked before the question registered. "Oh, yeah, I did. Thousands of years ago, this part of the galaxy was actually home to an interplanetary magical kingdom with the Moon being the core."

"But that's insane!" Hermione shouted; accidentally colliding with Gosaria as she turned. "Oh, sorry Gosaria!" She apologized before turning her attention back to Ranma. "How could there be an intergalactic magical kingdom thousands… of…" She halted as she stared right at her redheaded friend. After everything that the girl had revealed to her -- male past life, small animal turning into a space ship, extra-terrestrial life, a 20,000 plus-year-old genius, the weird and crazy abilities, and several other things impossible to list, -- was she really in any position to state impossibility right off the bat?

"Never mind," Hermione stated softly and settled back into her spot. "How did you find this information out anyway?"

Ranma turned to the side and placed a hand onto Laira's head. "Laira and I made a trip to the moon during the Christmas holiday as part of her test flight."

"Test flight?" Nashigi asked with a degree of curiosity.

"Yeah, that was basically Laira's first successful flight. Every time she tried to fly before then, she'd end up crashing to the ground." Ranma missed the rather pale looks that appeared on her friends' faces at the mention of Laira's crashing issue. "Anyway, after some exploring, we ended up in the underground ruins of the palace. Due to the partial vacuum, everything seemed to be in good order for having nobody around for all those years."

Using a pinky to clean her ear, the cat-girl continued. "We ended up coming to a room that housed a rather large and advanced still working computer called the Eternity Main System. After finding the stupid password, I was able to get onto it and view the information." Her lips turned into a smirk. "I was able to copy every single bit of information down onto my laptop."

Hermione's eyes were wide. One reason was that there existed a working computer on the Moon of all places, and the other reason was that her friend had actually copied every single detail onto her computer. "Have you been able to read up on everything?"

"Nah," Ranma answered, "I've only been able to go through a fraction of the data. Reading through 30,000 years worth of stuff tends to take a while."

"Do you know why the Moon Kingdom is gone, though?" Nashigi asked with interest.

"Some crazy chick from Earth calling herself Queen Beryl led an army that led to the destruction of the kingdom. There wasn't much info on that because everyone was-- well-- dying at the time."

The very idea of it was both ludicrous and amazing. Hermione, however, wasn't wasting time on the possibility and probability of the rather insane and crazy thought of an intergalactic magical kingdom of old, but on the information that her friend actually had on that tiny computer. "Lina, you heard that Washu is going to make a laptop similar to yours for me, right?" At the redhead's nod, Hermione continued. "Well, Washu mentioned that we'd be able to send information back and forth from each other, so maybe--"

"Yeah, sure, I'll send the information to you when ya get your computer." Ranma answered simply. She didn't see any reason why she shouldn't. "In fact, I could probably send ya a bunch of things every now and then."

Hermione's reaction was rather random. The brown-haired girl had actually squealed in joy as she -- impressively -- leapt over Gosaria and Nashigi before wrapping her arms around the surprised redhead in a rather tight hug. "Thank you so much, Lina! I'm so glad to have a friend who understands my desire for knowledge and learning!"

"Um, Hermione," Gosaria began as she moved over to the pair, "I think you might have broken Lina."

"What do you mean?" The brown-haired girl asked as she pushed herself away from the cat-girl. She then noticed that her friend was blushing furiously with a rather glazed appearance to her eyes. "Lina, are you alright?" She inquired as she gave her friend a small poke.

Getting to her feet, Laira proceeded to wave a hand in front of her mother's face. "Momma doesn't have a problem anymore with being around naked girls while taking a bath, and she can handle light contact. Things such as a hug or very close contact are something she _**CAN'T**_ handle… unless it comes from me or grandma Narcissa."

Nashigi decided to place her view. "Well, if we remember correctly, Lina _**DOES**_ have a boy's mentality. Even though she had a female life before it, she was directly reborn into this life from her previous male life; mentality and all."

"OH!" Hermione shouted as she placed a hand to her mouth. She had completely forgotten about that fact. "I'm so sorry, Lina."

"Th-- That's okay." Ranma finally managed to say with a wave as she pinched her nose. "I think I've been in the water too long. I'm going to go visit Washu-chan. Let's go, Laira." The cat-girl promptly vanished from view.

"Hey, wait for me, momma!" Laira shouted as she followed suit.

A small frown appeared on Hermione's lips. "I hope I didn't do anything wrong again." First it was the verbal argument they had when the redhead revealed the truth to her, and now it was her invading the girl's personal comfort.

"Ranma-chan can be like that at times." Sasami commented with a giggle as she made her way over to the trio. "You didn't do anything except slightly embarrass and make her uncomfortable. She just couldn't admit that, and so she excused herself so she could go to Washu's lab and get some breathing room."

"So she's used to it?" Gosaria asked.

Sasami, in response, pointed her thumb towards the incredibly inebriated Ayeka and Ryoko. "That looks pretty embarrassing as is, doesn't it? When those two, and Mihoshi, get drunk, embarrassing things tend to happen." The blue-haired princess placed a finger to her cheek. "And for some reason, Ranma-chan had a habit of getting into embarrassing situations."

"She still does." Nashigi answered with an amused look. "In fact, that weird outfit that always randomly appears on her is pretty embarrassing."

Hermione had to place a hand to her mouth to keep from giggling. She knew what outfit it was, and had seen both it and the cat-girl's reaction many times. She knew she shouldn't laugh, but it _**WAS**_ humorous.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Achoo!" Ranma blinked for a moment as she rubbed her nose. That sneeze had just come out of nowhere, and the most likely reason was because _**SOMEONE**_ was talking about her. She honestly had no idea why or what about, though.

Deciding that it probably didn't matter, the cat-girl picked up where she had left off as she sat on a floating cushion across from her teacher. "So yeah, I was kinda wondering why I suddenly went invisible during the fight, and why I can't do it again."

"It's simple." Washu stated she typed away on her transparent laptop. "Your Masu DNA has evolved slightly." Stopping in her typing, the diminutive genius glanced up at Ranma. "When I performed that exam on you the other day, I noticed that it was in the process of happening due to the patterns being more erratic than usual."

"Huh?" Ranma asked in slight confusion. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, I guess I shouldn't say that your DNA is evolving, because it's not exactly doing that." Washu placed a hand to her chin. "You see, Masu DNA is, in a way, dynamic. I've explained to you before about how the basic water-dwelling creature itself senses danger and feels a need to protect itself, right?" At her student's nod, Washu continued. "Well, deep down within the Masu DNA you have, there's still an instinctive desire to survive and grow. If the 'host' is in danger in some way, the Masu DNA will attempt to get to work on finding out the problem and correcting it. This is why you won't become ill under normal circumstances, and even if you do become ill, your structure will work on fixing the issue and preventing it from happening again."

Ranma gave a nod in understanding. The fact that her DNA had some kind of sentience was a little on the weird side. "Right, I get it, but what does this have to do with what happened earlier?"

"Basic survival instincts at work, really." Washu explained. "You have used the Umisenken quite a lot since you built up enough ki to use it, right?" The cat-girl gave a nod. "After using it for so long, your DNA has probably analyzed the survival capabilities of the technique, and it has decided to build upon the 'incomplete' ability by creating a 'complete' and natural ability."

"So what you're saying," Ranma started slowly, "Is that I'm going to now have an ability similar to the Umisenken, but the difference is that I'll be able to become truly invisible?"

"Correct, Ranma-chan!" The older redhead answered happily. "However, like when all of your other abilities were new, this one could take some time before you can use it properly. Your body has to get used to the change that your DNA has created."

Her student crossed her arms and pouted. "Damn, and I was actually looking forward to having some fun with it." The younger girl blinked for a moment. "Hey, does that mean I could develop and create other abilities as well?" She asked in excitement. "I mean, it's awesome. I thought I was gonna be stuck with the same old abilities Ryoko has."

"It's hard to say." Washu answered as she stroked her chin. "While it is possible, you'll have to take into account that your DNA has to feel that there actually is a need to develop a new ability. There's an even greater possibility that this may be the only one you'll develop." When she noticed Ranma's mood deflate at the news, the diminutive genius hopped off of her cushion and placed a hand onto her student's shoulder. "Hey, don't let the possibility get to you. You've gained one ability, so the probability of gaining another is there. It's just a matter of time."

"I guess." Ranma responded in annoyance as she turned her head and watched Laira gobble up a bunch of carrots. "What about Ryoko?"

Washu understood what her student was trying to say. "While the same can go for her, Ryoko's capability of evolution comes from being able to use the gems. She's still relatively too young to be able to use the full power of the gems, but she'll be able to within a few years."

"What'll happen when she can use all three gems perfectly?"

"You really want to know?" The diminutive genius asked. "She'd be as powerful as Tsunami." At the looks on both Ranma and Laira's faces, Washu had to laugh. "Well, she IS my daughter after-all."

The young cat-girl placed a hand to her forehead. 'Jeez, this house really is one of the most concentrated sources of power in the universe.' A smirk formed on her lips not soon after. 'At least I'll never run out of challenges while staying here.' Sure, maybe she did get pounded into the dirt most of the time, but it was the challenges that were enjoyable.

"By the way, Ranma-chan," Washu began, "I'm curious. How much of the info you got from the Moon have you read so far?" She was still impressed by the fact that the younger redhead was able to find that lunar computer and copy the information down.

"Only a fraction." Ranma answered as she pulled Stringy out from subspace. "There's a whole bunch of boring stuff mixed in, and so it's annoying to read at times." She proceeded to click through a bunch of info randomly. "Why didn't ya know about this place anyway? Shouldn't there be information about the Moon Kingdom already?"

"Honestly?" Washu asked with a hand on her hip. "I ended up re-checking. There's hardly any information about it documented. You see, the Juraian Empire was founded 150,000 years ago, and during that same time, the star system that Earth was located in was discovered and registered. A few thousand years later, the Moon Kingdom started to form, and when it fully formed, there were some treaties and agreements made between the empire of Jurai and kingdom of the Moon. Information from the treaty states that the Moon Kingdom would continue without any kind of outside interference from other kingdoms. This also required that all the information the Juraian Empire learnt was to be kept completely secret."

"I guess that makes sense." Ranma responded.

"And even after the Moon Kingdom was destroyed, the information remained secret in respect for those treaties and agreements." Washu added. "It wasn't until about 740 years or so ago that the Juraian Empire decided to make the Earth, and the Solar System, part of its territory."

"Think they'll ever release the information they have?"

Washu gave off a short laugh. "They probably don't even have the information anymore, and so there wouldn't be anything to release." The emerald-eyed genius peeked over her student's shoulder at the younger redhead's laptop. "It's possible that they wouldn't mind learning of this info so they can add it to the archives and history lessons in the Galaxy Academy and other schools." A smirk appeared on Washu's lips as she wrapped an arm around Ranma's shoulder. "You know, after turning in 30,000 years worth of information about a lost and forgotten kingdom, you'd probably become quite well known among those in the researching circle."

"Huh?"

"Who knows," Washu continued, "You could even take up a career as a field researcher. There are countless areas out there in the universe -- including this very galaxy -- that remain unknown and unexplored. With your abilities, you could end up exploring places that no other person can." Washu moved closer to the younger redhead's ear. "Also, you'll be able to explore and answer to the wander-lust that you have."

Ranma had to admit; the very idea did sound appealing, and it even sounded exciting. In a way, she found it odd that she was actually thinking about it. If something like that had been suggested to her years ago, she would have practically scoffed at the idea. Such wasn't the case as of now. "Maybe," Ranma began, "But wouldn't my fighting abilities go to waste if I just focused on that? I mean, I'd probably end up fighting something once in a while, but it wouldn't be enough."

Washu pulled away from the younger redhead. Her student did have a point. The kid's love of the fighting arts and things related to it greatly surpassed almost everything else. "Well," the diminutive genius began, "You could always become a bounty hunter as well." She noticed the younger girl's curious gaze. "As a bounty hunter, you'd be putting your combat skills to use by searching for various intergalactic criminals wanted for various illegal deeds." Washu started to tap her chin. "In fact, it's very possible for you to become both. You could travel around for the thrill and excitement of opposing dangerous intergalactic criminals _**AND**_ for the aspect of researching places nobody has ever been to."

As she thought about it, Ranma's tail began to slowly swish around in interest. Now _**THAT**_ was a nice idea. Sure, she'd have two jobs, but they would go completely hand in hand with each other. If she was going after someone, she could also do some researching and cataloging of the area she was in. "Ya know, I actually like that idea."

"But if you do end up taking up those jobs," Washu began before playfully grabbing Ranma's cheek and talking in a child-like voice, "Don't forget about your adorable Washu-chan. If you do, she'll be all sad and lonely, and she'll wonder why her special little student doesn't care about her anymore." Letting go of the younger redhead, Washu clasped her hands together under her chin and aimed a pair of wide and sparkly eyes towards the girl. "You won't be a meanie and do that to your one true love, will you Ranma-chan?"

"O-- Of course I won't, Washu-chan." Ranma answered quickly before her eyes widened. "One true love?!" She asked in a rather flustered and embarrassed tone. Next to her, Laira began to laugh her ass off.

"Oh I _**KNEW**_ you felt the same way, Ranma-chan!" Washu shouted as glomped onto the smaller redhead tightly.

"Now cut that out!" Ranma shouted from her rather confined position. "Why do ya always--" The cat-girl's complaint was cut off due to her body being enveloped within a bright flash of light. When the light cleared, she found that she was back in that dreaded Sailor Pompom outfit. As soon as Washu let Ranma go, the cat-girl found out too late that she was slightly off balance and fell off the floating cushion. As she fell backwards, she left a large trail of glitter.

"This isn't even funny anymore." Ranma stated in annoyance from her position on the floor. She watched as the glitter left in the air slowly fell and landed back on her. "This just has to be some sick joke." She added as she pushed herself to her feet.

Crossing her arms, Washu studied the younger girl in front of her. "So you're still having problems with that Senshi outfit?" She was aware of the fact that Ranma had some random-transformation issues, but she didn't think it was still going on.

"Yeah," Laira began, "Momma transforms randomly at least three times a month. There were some moments where she'd transform and couldn't get the uniform off for a few hours, and even if she did de-transform, she'd automatically transform right after."

Ranma gave a rather disgruntled nod. "I was lucky that mom never caught sight of it." She stared down at the dreaded outfit consisting of white, varying shades of pinks, bows, ribbons, frills, and glitter. Ranma was even sure she could still feel the make-up that came with the transformation. "There was a moment where she almost saw it, but I managed to de-transform in time." She didn't even _**WANT**_ to imagine Narcissa's reaction to the outfit. "It's seriously getting ridiculous, Washu-chan."

Washu could plainly see how distraught and aggravated the younger redhead was, and it made her wish that she could help. "Have you tried searching for an answer from the information that you collected from the lunar computer?"

"Yeah, I started searching after the second month when it _**REALLY**_ started to piss me off." Ranma answered with a frown as she hovered cross-legged in the air with her laptop floating in front of her. Because her Senshi uniform was being unresponsive at the moment, she was forced to wear it as she searched through the information on Stringy. "I couldn't use Stringy very much while at Hogwarts because of the fact that it'd distract the students or some such garbage. I was bored when Dumbledore explained it to me, so I don't think I heard the reason very well." Shrugging the thought out of her mind, Ranma continued. "Most of the time when I was able to use it, I was usually catching up on e-mail, doing the assignments you gave me, and a couple other things that took over time I had for searching."

"Have you been searching through the information on Sailor Senshi?" Washu asked.

"Yeah," Ranma answered, "I've been trying to read through the history on the Sailor Senshi and information on Senshi equipment. The history was just 30,000 years worth of stuff about the Senshi themselves and who they were. I gave up on reading through that a couple months ago. I was going to start on the equipment section, but…" Ranma trailed off as she scratched the base of her neck. "I was kinda having fun hangin' around with mom, and so I didn't really think about it."

Washu placed a hand to her chin as she pulled her cushion next to the young cat-girl and hopped onto it. "Well, let's check out the equipment section now. Try and see if there's any sub-section on the Senshi Fuku or uniform."

Complying, Ranma searched down the list of equipment until she arrived at the word _**'Fuku'**_. Upon clicking into it, she came to a page giving brief descriptions on the uniform, and that was all. Ranma was about to write it off as yet another dead end when she noticed a bolded sentence that stated _**'In-depth information on the Senshi Uniform; for the eyes of the Queen and Royal Scientists only. Anyone not authorized to view this information will be punished.' **_Underneath the bold wording, there was a box that asked for a password.

No matter how many times she thought about it, Ranma didn't think she'd ever get over the fact that the password keeping every single bit of information within the Eternity Main Systems computer safe was Ice Cream. It tended to make one question the thoughts of the very queen who used it.

As soon as she input the password, the page immediately switched to another one entitled _**'In-depth History and Information about the uniform of the Senshi.' **_The very page itself was operated by a kind-sounding feminine voice.

"_The Senshi Uniform: An outfit that gives a Sailor Senshi a higher durability against magic and physical attacks. While the uniform is designed more for the magical defense aspect, it __**DOES**__ provide a greater durability and protection when a Senshi is caught in a physical fight."_ All through the introduction, images of a Senshi in various poses were shown. A couple short clips showing a Senshi standing up to magical attacks and physical attacks were also shown, as was the person being tossed through a wall and coming out relatively okay. _"The Senshi uniform does have a limit, however. If the attack is too powerful, it will likely start destroying the uniform and harming the Senshi herself. Those wearing the uniform also have a rather limited disguise field. A person will not be able to tell who the Senshi is. However, as stated, the disguise field is limited. If a person were to spend several hours around the Senshi, they would be able to eventually see through the disguise field. If the person has seen her transform, the Senshi will lose the field affect on the individual." _Several more images were shown to go along with the description.

"_The uniform of the Senshi varies depending on which star system they are from. __**SOME **__examples of this differentiation include the area of Kinmoku, the Anima System, planets Lethe and Mnemosyne, and our very own Sol System."_ Along with the names of the systems came the examples of uniforms. For Kinmoku, the uniforms shown consisted of a black bikini halter top with a winged broach at the base. The bottom part consisted of what looked like black hot pants attached with a crisscrossing belt strapped to the waist. The black gloves were nearly shoulder length, and the black boots neared the thigh in length. In a way, Ranma was actually glad for the Senshi uniform that she currently had.

The uniforms of the Anima System varied, but one thing in common was that each of the women had some kind of features associated with animals. The uniforms of Lethe and Mnemosyne consisted of a simple camisole dress with matching colored chokers and open toe heeled sandals. Lastly, the Solar System example was exactly like what Ranma had seen Sailor Pluto wear.

"_However," _the voice began again, _"There is one main thing that all Sailor Senshi uniforms ultimately share. That item is the Sailor Collar." _A close-up of the top portion of an outfit was shown. The part that was pointed out was the collar that extended from the collarbone and draped over the shoulder. _"It is unknown why every Sailor Senshi seem to have this article of clothing, but it is theorized that it is a sign showing that one is a true Senshi. However, this article is about the information and history of the Sol System, and not about the information and history of the other uniforms of other systems."_

"Jeez, get on with it already." Ranma complained. She was promptly whapped upside the head by Washu. "Ow…"

"_The Sailor Senshi uniform of the Sol System didn't start out looking like it does now. In fact, there were a couple of slight differences about the uniform that are largely forgotten about today."_ An image popped up of the original Solar System Senshi uniform, and the differences were obvious. Instead of the body-suit looking exactly like a leotard, the bottom extended downward into a pair of sailor pants that ended a few inches above the ankles. The pleated skirt was actually a pleated half-skirt that started at the sides and wrapped around back.

Ranma actually blinked when she caught sight of the outfit. If the Senshi outfit she was wearing actually looked like that, -- minus the excessive ribbons, bows, frills, and glitter -- she might not have minded it at all. "Why'd the outfit change?" She was whapped again by Washu.

"_The Senshi uniform of the Sol System stayed like this until the second queen of the Moon, Queen Serenity II. When the Moon Kingdom had first formed, the Senshi had become princesses and queens of their respective planets. As such, they were part of the Moon Kingdom and under the control of the queen. As Senshi, they had also pledged their protection to Queen Serenity and her descendants. This gave Queen Serenity the authority over the style of their uniforms as well."_ Images appeared of the first and second Queen Serenitys. _"During the reign of Queen Serenity II, the Sailor Senshi were the daughters of the previous Senshi. The second queen of the Moon Kingdom gradually noticed that her young Senshi had a habit of making snide comments about the Senshi uniforms of other systems and planets that were more revealing. In an action to teach the young Senshi -- and future Senshi -- a lesson in humility and understanding, Queen Serenity II used her power over their uniforms to change them into how they are today. The practice of humility remained for all Senshi to follow until the very memory of the event faded into obscurity."_

Laira gave her mother a glance. "There's your answer, momma."

"You've gotta be kidding me." Ranma announced with a frown. "The uniforms were changed just because a bunch of girls found the uniforms of other systems amusing?" Just what kind of logic was that?

Washu glanced at the young cat-girl. "Think about it this way. Your personal guardians have become cocky because they think their uniforms are better than a majority of others. Those guardians are young as well, and their cockiness ends up going more and more to their head in time. Sooner or later, you have a group who thinks they are unanimously better than anyone else, and that very line of thought would be enough to cloud their judgment and get them killed. Even though that scenario might not have happened, the probability of it happening was still there. So, in response, their queen used her power over their uniforms to change them so they could learn a lesson."

"That makes some sense." Ranma said as she stared back down at her laptop. Her eyes widened as a thought occurred to her. "Hey, it said that the Senshi gave their authority over their outfits to the queen. Since she was able to change it, does that mean there's a way to?"

"It's possible." Washu answered. Her eyes continued to twinkle as she looked through the information. Ever since she copied the information that Ranma had obtained from the lunar computer into her systems, the diminutive genius had started reading through and cataloging the information. She was still going through the information, and she hadn't even started on the in-depth sections on the Senshi yet. "Nobody has ever been able to _**OFFICIALLY **_study the Sailor Senshi. Most won't allow others to study them, and there's also the Juraian Empire -- along with various others -- who refused to allow the studying of Senshi for various reasons. But," Washu began with an almost fanatical interest, "Here we have actual research that was allowed to be conducted by the Moon Kingdom."

"_As mentioned," _the voice continued, _"The Sol System Senshi had given the queen the authority over their Senshi Uniform." _An image of the fuku outfit popped up on screen. _"In a way, the Senshi Uniform could be likened to that of a program, while the Senshi herself could be considered the user or administrator of said program. As such, they have a degree of control over how their uniform appears. However, what __**MUST**__ remain for all Senshi are the Sailor Collar and the aspects that show what area of space they come from."_ Arrows showed up on the image of the Solar System fuku. The areas they pointed out were the tiara, chest and back bows, and the upper part of the white body-suit. _"The uniform also requires some form of pleated skirt; be it full, half, or side flaps."_

A smirk appeared on Ranma's lips. As long as she could change the uniform she was wearing to something more manageable, she didn't really care. Maybe she'd even go for the pants version of the uniform.

"_**HOWEVER**__,"_ the voice interrupted loudly, _"Because the Sol System Senshi had given the authority over their uniforms to the queen, they no longer have the ability to freely change their outfit."_

"WHAT!" Ranma shouted as she jumped to her feet; leaving a trail of glitter as she did so. "What the hell do ya mean by 'they no longer have the ability to freely change their outfit'? Why the hell would they give up that right to the damn queen?!" She was promptly pulled back onto her cushion by Washu. "You've gotta be kidding me."

The voice wasn't finished yet. _"If the Senshi wants to change something in their outfit that doesn't occur normally via power and form advances, then she must ask the queen to use her administrative powers over their uniforms and allow her to do so. However, since the Sol System Senshi uniform is as such to teach the Senshi humility and understanding, it is unlikely that the queen would allow the change to occur. To change their uniform, the Senshi would need both the password __**AND**__ voice okay from the queen. In the event that the queen dies, the administrative function would automatically go to the princess, and the princess would, in turn, gain full administrative ability once she becomes a queen."_

"That is so unfair." Ranma commented in annoyance as she promptly closed her laptop. The queen was -- of course -- deader than a doornail, and the princess -- if Ranma was correct during her conversation with the ghostly form of Serenity when she visited the moon -- was just a little girl with no possible chance of ever becoming a queen. That meant she'd probably be stuck in with the uniform she had for eternity. "All I want is at least some form of control over these damn transformations!"

Washu stared at her fuming apprentice for a moment as she began to think. "Ranma-chan," she said as she hopped off her cushion, "Do you think you would be able to channel some of the magic generated by your form to me?" At the questioning look of the young cat-girl, Washu continued. "Well, I want to do a little studying on Senshi magic, and you're probably the only one who would be willing to let me do just that." She started typing away on her transparent laptop. A moment later, a strange kind of crystal-like container appeared from one of Washu's subspace pockets. "Just channel some of your magic into this for me. It might be easier to gather the magic used in Senshi attacks"

Still grumbling over the rather cruel reality that was her outfit, Ranma held onto the container and started concentrating as if she were about to use an attack. Since she had only gathered the mana, it began to fill up the crystalline construct with a pinkish-colored energy. After about a minute, she ended her channeling and handed the container over to Washu. "Now what?"

"Now…" Washu trailed off as she pulled out a pair of scissors. Without warning, the 20,000 plus-year-old genius gleefully and quickly cut off a few pieces of Ranma's skirt and stuck them into a smaller container.

"Hey," Ranma shouted with a tinge of pink appearing on her cheeks, "What the hell are you-- GAH!" The cat-girl was pulled backwards as Washu -- appearing behind her -- pulled onto her hair and started shaking an almost never-ending stream of glitter into yet another container. "What the hell do ya think you're doing?!"

"Research, of course!" Washu chirped happily. "I want to study the properties of Senshi magic and clothing first hand. That also includes the glitter that you are practically bathed in." There was another reason for why she did it, but she wasn't going to reveal it to the cat-girl at the moment.

"Well ya could have asked before you cut the skirt and yanked my hair." Ranma grumbled darkly as she finally managed to de-transform from her Senshi uniform. Her left eye soon began to twitch when Washu wrapped her arms around her and started stroking her hair.

"Oh my poor little Ranma-chan," Washu said playfully as she rubbed her cheek against the younger redhead's. "Washu-chan is so sorry for making you angry, but she just loves it when her darling little Ranma-chan gets all flustered and embarrassed." Pulling back a little ways, the diminutive genius lifted Ranma's chin and stared into her eyes with a questioning look. "Would a kiss from Washu-chan make all the bad feelings go away?"

Flushing furiously at the very thought, Ranma quickly pushed herself away from the older woman. "Knock it off!"

A rather disappointed look appeared on Washu for about a split second before she placed a finger to her chin. "Oh poo, I really was looking forward to having the pleasure of stealing your first kiss." She proceeded to direct a wink at the cat-girl. "Don't worry, Ranma-chan, Washu-chan won't let anyone else touch those lips of yours." Washu added on to this statement by playfully blowing a kiss. "Because that'll be a pleasure reserved for me only."

Ranma's face took on an even greater shade of red at the thought of what the older redhead had just said, and it wasn't helping that Laira was giggling in amusement. Internally, she wondered why she had to open the whole can of worms by giving Washu all that data from the Moon. If she hadn't, this wouldn't even be happening. At least she was pretty sure it never would have happened.

Washu almost instantly appeared behind her. "You really do need to get over your shyness, Ranma-chan." This caused the cat-girl to 'eep' and jump several meters away before turning around and staring at her. "It'll cause so many problems in a relationship later on."

"Well if ya stopped trying to force yourself onto me!"

"But love states there's no other way!" Washu answered as she hugged herself. "My feelings… they tell me that there is no other! They fill my mind with varying fantastic and wondrous ideas ripe for us to do together. Some of them may be perverse, but why should we care?!" She actually pulled out a microphone and extended an arm into Ranma's directions. "Love is not based solely on the perverse activities of two! Maybe the idea of tying you down to a cold steel table and doing things that would make even a nympho blush is too perverse, but--" A shoe smacked into her face and caused her to stop.

"I said knock if off!" Ranma shouted as she tried to get her blushing under control. She didn't know whether to be embarrassed or freaked out by that entire paragraph. "Besides, Laira's about ready to faint in embarrassment." She added as she glanced over to her daughter.

"I'm okay, momma." Laira answered with reddened cheeks. "That really _**WAS**_ too much information."

"Alright," Washu said as she rubbed the spot of her face where the shoe had hit, "I guess I did go a little too far that time." Usually she knew when to stop, but she was just having too much fun teasing the younger redhead. "Well, I guess that's enough of that for now." The diminutive genius gave Ranma's shoe back to her as she wrapped an arm around the girl's shoulder. "It's back to business, Ranma-chan!"

Ranma was still feeling rather nervous with being around the older woman, but since Washu was currently in 'serious mode', she felt that she was safe for the moment. "What do ya mean?"

"You wanted some help installing features onto Ein, right? Well, I think it's time we get to work on that."

Ranma's lips slowly turned into a smirk as she pulled out a deactivated Ein from her subspace pocket. A love-struck Washu attempting to come on to her was something she had trouble handling. A serious -- and not-so-serious -- Washu ready to teach her things and help her figure out how to create was something she _**COULD**_ handle.

"Now," Washu said as she placed a finger to her chin in thought, "How would you feel about Optical Wave Beams capable of eating through two 15-inch wide slabs of super-reinforced titanium-lutetium in just one second?"

"You're kidding, right?" Ranma asked with a half-lidded stare. "Who the hell would come across something like that?"

"That's a little too powerful." Laira added.

"Alright, fine, how about a Mini-Photon Disruptor capable of knocking power out for over 10 miles?"

"No."

"Okay, how about--"

"No Ion Destabilizer Cannons capable of knocking everybody within a two-mile radius unconscious."

Washu stared incredulously at the young cat-girl. "How'd you know what I was going to say?"

Ranma shrugged. "Lucky guess." She's been the 20,000 plus-year-old's student for around 10 years. She was bound to figure out SOME things going through the somewhat mad woman's mind. "Look, I don't want any overly destructive and chaotic devices. Maybe something like a function that allows Ein to shrink so it can function as a security camera of sorts."

"That'd be easy enough to do, but are you sure you wouldn't want--"

"No."

"Damn, you're no fun at all."

"Hey, it's not my fault that the additions you consider fun are incredibly dangerous." Ranma said as she placed Ein onto a work table. "I'm not a mad scientist, ya know."

A smile appeared on Washu's lips. 'Not yet, anyway.' She thought as she watched the young cat-girl remove the covering off of the mini-kitten bot. The diminutive genius couldn't help but observe the inner workings of her student's creation with an appraising eye. While it was obvious -- to her -- that a beginner had created it, she still couldn't help but marvel at how well the younger redhead had done. "I still find it amazing that your first invention was something of this caliber, Ranma-chan."

"I wanted to create something interesting." Ranma admitted as she scratched the base of her ponytail. "I didn't want to stick with something small and boring, so I decided to try and work on something more complex."

Laira gave off a small giggle. "You just wanted to create something complex so you could brag about it and get compliments from grandma Washu." The small flick to the nose that she had instantly received ended her amusement. "Hey, that hurt!"

"There's a problem with the electronic circuit though." Washu interrupted as she pointed to the inside of Ein. "The entire circuit appears to already be wearing out, and a couple pieces have already broken apart. You did a great job of building Ein, but most of its components -- the capacitors, microprocessors, wiring -- are already suffering due to strain. I doubt you even realized how much power Ein would use just to float in the air alone."

A small frown appeared on Ranma's lips as she stared down at her first creation. The excitement and pride over creating Ein was dampened some with the revelation that the entire circuit board she used was too weak to handle the robot for very long. "And I've only activated her three times so far." She said. "So, what now?"

"We're going to have to completely replace the entire inner mainframe with much more suitable and powerful components that'll be able to handle the stress." Washu said as she began collecting everything that they'd need for the job. "It won't take too long to replace everything, though." She added when she caught the look on the younger redhead's face. "After-all, you _**DO**_ have the greatest scientific genius in the universe helping."

Ranma felt a rather large feeling of relief. She had thought that she'd end up having to spend months on replacing every single part of the circuit board, but Washu was going to help her with the entire process. All the cat-girl really needed to do now was to observe and try to file the information away for later. "Thanks, Washu-chan." She said in a low voice as she scratched her cheek.

"You're welcome, Ranma-chan!" Washu chirped as she finished collecting the required gear. "Alright, so Ein won't function properly for very long if you continue to use the kind of lower scale components that you had originally used. If I were to guess, I'd say it would have been able to activate one more time before either ceasing to work permanently or explode." She found the disheartened look coming from her student to be rather adorable. "And considering how advanced Ein is, we're going to need a much sturdier mainframe." Washu handed a thin dark green circuit board to the younger redhead.

Staring at the object in her hand, Ranma noted that, unlike a normal circuit board, this one had a series of patterns consisting of small lines traveling to various small nodes. In the very center of the board, there was a small sphere with an even smaller one inside being held in place by small and barely noticeable tubes.

"Unlike the other one you were using, this one will be capable of sustaining Ein without a problem. In fact, this very circuit board would be durable enough to work an equivalent of 10 super-computers at once; Ein burning out will no longer be an issue." Washu finished. She then smirked when she saw the impressed look on both Ranma and Laira's faces. "Also, before we place the circuit board into Ein, we should install the device that will provide it with the ability to shrink and grow."

"Right."

Washu tapped her chin for a moment. "Ranma-chan, are you sure you don't want any other function installed onto it? I still think that optical wave beams would be a good idea. You never know when you may need some kind of laser, and having one on hand would be handy."

Ranma opened her mouth to reply, but stopped. After thinking it over, the idea didn't seem to be all that bad. "Okay, we can add some optical lasers, but nothing powerful enough to turn a city block into a pile of rubble, got it?"

Washu had to hold back a giggle. Sure, the redhead had told her no lasers capable of turning a city block to ruin, but she didn't specify just how powerful. 'She really does need to learn how to be more specific and think things through.'

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It had taken almost two hours, but they had finally put the finishing touches on Ein, and it was then Ranma's job to attach the front piece back onto the base of the invention. Once the task was done, she had reached over to grab hold of her headset to activate her mini-bot, but was stopped when Washu plucked the headpiece from her grasp. The action had caused Ranma to stare at the older woman with a questioning look.

"This headset won't work anymore, Ranma-chan." Washu replied simply. "The complete overhaul we did on Ein's circuitry has made it incompatible with your old control gear."

A frown appeared on the cat-girl's lips. "So we'll have to make a whole new control piece as well?" She had thought they would be done with all the tinkering for the night.

The older redhead raised her eyebrow at the question. "You don't think that I didn't take that into consideration when I explained it to you that we'd have to redo everything? Why Ranma-chan, I'm surprised with you!" Calling forth her laptop, Washu started typing in a seemingly random sequence. A subspace pocket soon opened up to release a crimson-colored device into Ranma's hands.

The upper part of the device consisted of a half loop, and one side of it dipped downward; the very end had what looked to be a small earphone piece. Another part of the device trailed downward before curving into an 'L' shape; the end also had a small microphone on it. The thickness was comparable to that of a string, but from the feel of it, the object was sturdier than steel.

"Your former headset was large and extremely noticeable." Washu explained as she plucked the crimson device from her student's hand. "This, however, wouldn't be as easily seen. The earpiece loops around the base of your ear, and the colorization allows it to blend right in with the color of your hair and ears." As she was explaining, Washu gently placed the earpiece into place on Ranma's head. "The microphone part will camouflage easily with your hair as well, and it doesn't have to be close to your mouth for Ein to hear your voice."

"Wow," Ranma began, "Thanks, Washu-chan."

"I haven't shown you one of the best parts of the headset yet." Washu said with a smirk as she pressed a small button on the part that settled at the base of the cat-girl's ear. Instantly, the section containing the microphone retracted and vanished into the earpiece. "Now nobody will be able to easily spot it, and you can keep it ready for when you need to get in quick contact with Ein." The petite genius directed a small wink at the younger redhead. "Doesn't it just make you want to declare your undying love for little ol' me?"

A rather large sweat-drop appeared on Ranma's head as she proceeded to give a long sigh. She liked hanging around with Washu; really she did. The woman, though largely eccentric and sometimes mad, had helped her countless times in bettering her training methods and providing methods that allowed her to do just that. Honestly speaking, Ranma considered the woman to be one of the few people she could almost completely trust; something not many others had the full luxury of. Washu seemingly being in love with her -- she still wasn't sure if it was all an act or serious -- was awkward, weird, rather annoying, and some other things she couldn't place.

"Anyway," Washu began suddenly, "Aren't you going to activate Ein to see if the upgrades work without a problem?"

"Oh yeah." Ranma responded as she pressed the small button on the earpiece that allowed the microphone to extend downward. "This is awesome, Washu-chan!" The cat-girl announced as she reached over to Ein and turned it on via a switch at the base of its tail. "Okay, Ein, activate!"

The mini-kitten bot's eyes snapped open almost immediately after Ranma had issued the command. The first thing Ein did after opening its eyes was to open its mouth and proceed to give off a rather large yawn. Its paws also moved to the side of its head and mimicked a series of stretches. After a moment, Ein blinked and turned its sights onto Ranma. With a bright smile, it hovered up into the air and flew over to the redheaded cat-girl.

"_**Mistress Lina!"**_ It shouted as it landed on Ranma's shoulder and proceeded to affectionately rub its cheek against its creator's. _**"I feel stronger and better than I used to!"**_

"That's because Washu-chan and I replaced all of your inner components with stronger and more powerful tech." Ranma answered as she gave the robot a pat on the head. She still wondered why Ein turned out so childlike and affectionate, as well as insisted on calling her 'Mistress Lina', but guessed that it was better than cold and emotionless. "We also added some upgrades to ya."

"_**Can I try them out?" **_Ein asked with large and questioning eyes._** "My processors have already found the upgrades and managed to interpret what they do!"**_

"Well," the young cat-girl began as she scratched the base of her ponytail, "I guess we should try out the optical beams and see if they work, but make it the lowest setting you can."

"_**Alright!"**_ Ein shouted as its eyes began to glow a light blue color.

Washu, in response, began to sweat. Using lasers randomly could very well damage some precious equipment. "Wait, you can't just fire it off randomly! We need to get something to test--"

Her warning came too late as twin beams of blue energy were fired from the robot's eyes. Miraculously, the beams seemed to completely miss several pieces of equipment and continue on without the anticipated sound of explosions. When nothing was heard, Washu was going to suggest they try a more powerful beam out on a large slab, but a scream of pain followed by some shouts of worry cued the group in on that something _**HAD**_ happened.

"Didn't that scream of pain sound like it came from Nashigi?" Laira asked curiously.

Without even a thought, the group made haste in the direction where the commotion was coming from. It only took about a minute before they came to a stop to see that Hermione and Gosaria were attempting to pull Nashigi back to her feet. The oldest of the three girls only appeared slightly charred, and she seemed to only be moderately dazed over having been hit by Ein's eye-beams.

Upon getting back to her feet, Nashigi gave her head a few shakes in the hope of getting rid of the rather dizzy feeling she was experiencing. "What happened just now?" She asked with a hand to her head. "What hit me?"

"Blue beams," Gosaria provided. "It was some kind of twin beam thing that came out of nowhere and hit you. It's lucky that you were only tossed onto your back!" She had actually noticed the lasers before they hit, but she was too late to voice a warning.

"Well," Ranma interrupted as she turned her head to stare at Washu, "At least we know that Ein's optical beams are working perfectly." She reached up and gave Ein a small pat on the head. It was a good thing she told the mini-bot to use the lowest setting it could, otherwise what happened could have turned out bad.

"Wait, those lasers came from Ein?" Hermione asked with wide eyes as she focused on the tiny robot floating next to her friend. "Is that what you and Washu have been doing since you left the bathing house earlier?"

Washu's eyes twinkled as the opportunity to have some amusement presented itself. "Oh, there were other activities as well." She responded as she wrapped her arms around the younger redhead and placed her chin on the cat-girl's shoulder. "I _**WOULD**_ fill you in on the details, but I'm afraid that the three of you are just too young." Washu winked at the trio. "Your friend here really knows how to have a good time. Isn't that right, Ranma-chan?" The woman asked as she lifted her hand and slowly traced a finger along the younger girl's cheek.

Ranma's cheeks began to redden in complete and utter embarrassment. "Damn it, will you--" She was silenced when Washu gently placed a finger to her lips.

"Now, now, there's no need to be angry, Ranma-chan." The woman said softly as she gave Ranma a small and affectionate kiss on the cheek. "I told the young ones that they won't get the details, so you have nothing to worry about. Perhaps I'll make it up to you when we're alone again." Washu proceeded to whisper something that the three girls couldn't hear.

This time, Ranma's entire face turned completely red, and a small trickle of blood had managed to seep out from her nose. "N-- No way!" She announced as she turned her attention to her friends -- and even Laira -- for help. However, it was apparent that she wasn't going to get what she needed, because Laira was blushing like mad and had her back turned while pressing her fingers together. The girls, however…

"Th-- That's not proper!" Hermione shouted with a reddened face. "I can't believe that you're in such a serious relationship already, Lina! I know it was said that your relationship would be legal on some other planets, but to get all affectionate in front of us?"

Ranma blinked at the brown-haired girl. "That's not--"

"Say what you will, Hermione," Nashigi began as she placed a hand to her cheek, "But I find it to be utterly romantic with how much those two seem to like each other. Lina really is lucky to have found someone already; especially someone she's known for so long."

"Hey, it's not what it looks like!"

Gosaria tilted her head. "How can it not be what it looks like when it looks like what it's not supposed to look like?" Everyone gave her a rather odd look. "Well, it's true, right?"

"_**My circuits hurt trying to understand that…"**_ Ein whined.

"Stop trying to." Ranma responded as she managed to slip out of Washu's grasp. She then glared at her friends. "We did not do _**ANYTHING**_ except for working on Ein, got it?!" The cat-girl then pointed towards Washu. "She was only pulling your leg so she could get a free shot at embarrassing me!" Whether she was trying to convince her friends of that, or convince herself was something that Ranma wasn't exactly sure of.

An almost disappointed look appeared on Washu's features for a split second. "Sadly, it's true. We didn't proceed any further in our relationship." She admitted with a nod in the girl's direction. Her lips soon formed into a smirk. "It's just so fun to tease Ranma-chan, and you three believing it was so much more enjoyable."

"But isn't that kind of teasing a little extreme?" Hermione asked with a frown. Not only that, but it was incredibly embarrassing for her friend to be subject to such a thing. She wouldn't admit, however, that she did find the scene to be somewhat amusing.

"Hey, what else can Ein do?" Gosaria asked as she from her spot near Ein that she had somehow gotten to while everyone else was distracted. "Did you only give it an ability to shoot those beam things?"

Ranma, happy to get off the rather uncomfortable subject they were previously on, gave a quick nod. "Yeah, there are some other upgrades as well." The cat-girl placed a finger to the microphone. "Okay, Ein, I want ya to shrink."

"_**Got it, Mistress Lina."**_ Ein announced happily as its eyes shone brightly for a moment before the mini-bot -- whose main body was almost seven inches in circumference -- shrunk to the size of a half-inch in circumference. _**"Wow,"**_ Ein announced, _**"I'm really, really small now! This is so great!"**_

Hermione, Nashigi, and Gosaria stared at tiny robot in awe. If it was flying around, not many people would even notice it, and the thing could get into a great deal of small places nobody else could.

"Now to test out and see if her inner surveillance cam works properly." Ranma stated as she pulled Stringy out from subspace. Before she could open it, Washu grabbed onto her hand before reaching towards her ear. "What are you--" The cat-girl halted in surprise when a holo-visor appeared in front of her eyes. "Whoa…" It was all she could say as she stared through it.

"I had told you earlier that the retracting microphone was one of the best parts that I hadn't shown to you yet." Washu explained before wagging a finger. "However, I didn't tell you that there was another function to it. What has appeared in front of your eyes is a holo-visor that also comes from your headset. When you activate Ein's surveillance camera, this visor will allow you to view directly through its eyes as if you were there. It's a lot better than having to rely on your laptop to view the footage."

Nashigi made her way over to her friend. "That really is a lot better than that bulky eyesore you wore a couple days ago, Lina." She responded as she examined the replacement headset. Her lips turned into a frown. "Now you actually look cooler than me!" Nashigi received a half-lidded stare from the cat-girl in response to her statement.

"It does seem amazing." Gosaria stated with a nod. She hated the fact that she was the only tech-illiterate one among her friends. Even if she was told how something worked, she wouldn't be able to remember it completely. Gosaria hadn't fully understood yet that most of the problem stemmed from the fact of just _**WHO**_ she was in her previous life. She knew very well that she was ditzy, sometimes slow, a little forgetful, slightly clumsy, and said stupid things, but she felt that she wasn't that bad compared to that rather pathetic blond swordsman she had various dreams about. The man in her dreams was great at using swords though, and she honestly found herself wishing she could try some of the things the blond man could do.

"This'll make operating Ein much easier when I'm at Hogwarts." Ranma said as she deactivated the holo-visor. "Ein will be able to fly around in its small size undetected, and I can keep my headset around for if I need it."

"Won't you get in trouble for bypassing the magical interference and having a robot move around the school?" Hermione asked with a frown. "You explained that you couldn't use your laptop as much as you liked because of the issue of being forbidden from using it around a lot of students." A different thought occurred to the brown-haired girl. "I'll have to be careful about using the laptop I get as well. Still, why would you have Ein fly around?"

Ranma gave a rather lazy shrug. "Dunno, it sounds like a good idea to me. Nothing interesting will probably happen that would require Ein's use, but that doesn't mean I should let it sit deactivated for a whole year." A possible idea was to release Ein and let her do a small check of the castle every few weeks or so. While she didn't mind breaking a rule or two -- or several, -- playing it safe with how much she used Ein would be a good idea. "Ein, return to your normal size, and deactivate for the night."

A sad look appeared on the kitten-bot's face. _**"Alright, Mistress Lina."**_ It responded in a rather depressed tone. _**"Let me out to play again soon, okay?"**_ It asked as it lowered itself into Ranma's hand. Before deactivating, Ein gave a bright smile and happily waved its paw. _**"Bye-bye!"**_ A second later, it closed its eyes and stopped.

"Why's it so child-like?" Hermione asked as she observed her friend's invention. She had actually hoped it would stay activated a little longer.

"Not sure." Ranma responded with a shrug as she stuck Ein into her subspace pocket. "Ein was like that when I first activated it. I've tried to figure out why Ein's personality was like that, but I couldn't figure it out."

Gosaria decided to ask the next question. "Is Ein a boy or girl?"

"Uh…" Ranma scratched the base of her ponytail. "Does it really matter what gender it is? It's a floating robotic cat-head with paws and a tail."

"Referring to Ein by a gender would give it more of a personality and character." Washu said as she stroked her chin. "You have to keep things like this in mind when you create things that have a high degree of sentience."

"Alright, I guess I could give Ein a gender."

"Female," Nashigi said with an accompanying nod. The sentiments were shared by Gosaria, Hermione, and Washu. "I can't see it any other way."

Ranma's lips twitched for a moment as she glanced at everyone else. Finally, she closed her eyes and answered. "Male," she stated simply. "Ein's gonna be male."

"Why male?" Gosaria asked with a slight frown.

"Simple," Ranma began, "I'm surrounded by too many females, and so I need to even it out in _**SOME**_ way." The only males that she honestly spent any time around were Tenchi, Katsuhito, Draco, her father, Fred and George, and -- to an extent -- Harry and Ron. That list was minimal in comparison to the female list which included the girls at the Masaki home, Laira, Gosaria, Nashigi, Hermione, her mother, Hotaru, Nodoka, Sakura, the girls she shared a dorm with at Hogwarts, etc. Ranma honestly and truly needed at least _**ONE**_ more male figure to keep her sanity intact. "And so, Ein gonna be a boy. It's as simple as that."

"So it's decided." Washu responded with a quick clap of her hands. "You now have an adorable little son, Ranma-chan."

"Huh?"

"Well, you've created an object with human-like sentience, and you have given it a name and gender. To some people, that would mean that Ein could be comparable to a child; especially with its child-like personality. Since you are his creator, it would make you Ein's parent. As such, you now have a second child to take care of." Washu placed a hand onto the younger girl's shoulder. "Take good care of your son, Ranma."

"Now wait just a--"

"Wow," Gosaria began, "12-years-old and already the mother of two."

Ranma sweat-dropped. "Ya do realize how bad that sounds, right?"

"Still, you do have a son and daughter." Hermione stated. "There's no real denying that much."

Placing a hand to her head, Ranma sighed in defeat. It was hard to get any sense of things when you had four people ganging up on you. 'Speaking of daughters…' The cat-girl trailed off as she turned her head to look for Laira. "Hey Lai, where are--" She halted in mid sentence when she caught sight of her daughter.

Just a few feet away, Laira was curled up in a rather comfortable ball. Her eyes were closed, and a faint snoring sound could be heard coming from her small body. Humorously, the young cabbit was also peacefully sucking on her thumb as she slept.

As she walked over to her daughter, Ranma couldn't help but allow a small smile to break out on her lips. That scene was probably the only time she would ever freely admit to one being too cute for words. Without a word, Ranma bent down and carefully picked Laira up into her arms without disturbing her sleep. The young cabbit did, however, wrap her arms around the cat-girl's neck and comfortably placed her cheek against her mothers. At this, Ranma gave off a light chuckle as she made her way towards her friends and Washu.

"I'm gonna go put Laira to bed, and I think I'll join her." She _**WAS**_ feeling rather tired as well, and it was probably the best time to turn in for the night. With no more words traded, Ranma made her way out of the lab with her daughter in her arms.

The momentary silence was broken by Hermione. "She really does make a good parent." The sentiments were shared by the other three individuals.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The next morning found Ranma using a broom to sweep up the stone pathway leading up to the shrine entrance. The cat-girl was moderately annoyed with the fact that she had to forgo her usual training time in favor of some repetitive chores around the Masaki Shrine.

"Why do you have to do these chores again?" Gosaria asked as the girls watched their friend work and wondered if they should lend a hand. Laira had actually chosen to help her mother by dipping a ladle into a bucket and tossing the water onto the walkway.

A small vein appeared on Ranma's forehead. "I already told ya! The old man's having me do this because I accidentally broke a promise I made to him years ago that said I won't reveal myself to anybody else from my previous life." The punishment for breaking the agreement wasn't exactly as bad as she thought it would have been. "For the next three years, I have to help out with chores around the shrine whenever I'm here."

"Honestly, it doesn't sound all that bad." Nashigi answered. It could have been worse; she could have had to help with every chore around the house as well.

Ranma gave her a half-lidded stare. "The old man actually finds things for me to do, and he'd be sadistic enough to point out that I 'missed a spot', or that something 'is stacked too unevenly'."

A frown appeared on Hermione's lips. To her, it honestly sounded as if the elderly Shinto priest had a rather odd sense of humor. "Lina," she began curiously, "Who was the person from your previous life who found out?"

"My ex-fiancée." Ranma answered simply as she continued to sweep the pathway.

"But isn't your ex-fiancée one of the people who already knew?" Gosaria asked with a tilt of her head. "How can you get in trouble for telling someone who already knows?"

"_**OTHER**_ ex-fiancée." The cat-girl provided with a hint of reluctance. When her three friends gave her odd and incredulous looks, Ranma raised a hand. "Hey, it's not what ya think! It's all because of my father in my previous life!"

"How?" Nashigi asked with a raised eyebrow. It still amazed her that she knew so little about the redhead's past and present lives, so hearing more info was always interesting.

Ranma grumbled to herself as she began telling the three. "Okay, so I told you three that I had a fiancée named Akane Tendo, and that it was arranged by my previous father and her's, right?" When her friends nodded, Ranma continued. "Basically, pops also made an arrangement with another man a few years later in return for the Okonomiyaki yatai the guy owned, but pops took the yatai and left Ukyo behind."

Gosaria pounded a fist into her hand when she actually remembered that name. "Hey, you mentioned Ukyo once when you first told us about your previous life! You told us that she was a childhood friend who made that okona-- okonoma-- whatever food you said, but nothing about her being a fiancée."

"You actually remembered that?" Ranma asked with a blink. It was weird how the blonde could be so slow and ditzy at one moment, but be more observant than anyone else and competent the next. In fact, Gosaria actually seemed more so now than she was at Hogwarts. However, now was not the time to dwell on oddities of nature. "Well, she was my friend when we were kids; before the fat panda pulled that whole stunt with the yatai." Ranma halted for a moment before shaking her head. "It's not important, and everything would be boring to recount. Long story short: Ukyo found me years later and tried to take revenge on me, but then I called her cute, and that caused her to give up her revenge and return to being my friend _**AND**_ fiancée."

Her friends stared at each other for a moment and couldn't help but find the entire story to be odd. Of course, odd coming from the cat-girl was actually par for the course as far as they were concerned. Anything less would just make everything seem bizarre.

Ranma, not paying attention to the looks, made her way over to Laira and was about to congratulate her daughter on doing a good job, but the young cabbit ended up spinning around and tossing the contents of the ladle right into her face. Ranma sputtered as she wiped the water from her face. "I really hate water sometimes." She said as her friends began laughing.

"Sorry, momma." Laira apologized with a slight blush as she scratched the side of her cheek. She had started to have a little too much fun with tossing water onto the ground, and so she wasn't thinking when she tossed the water into the air.

"Don't worry about it, Lai." Ranma said as she shook her ears free of water. She then proceeded to glare in the direction of her laughing friends. Her lips twisted into a rather sinister smirk as she snatched the bucket of water from Laira and made her way towards the trio of girls.

Hermione -- noticing the cat-girl walking towards them with the bucket -- gave off a rather audible 'eep'. "Wait, Lina, Don't!" She shouted as she backed up several feet.

"Y-- Yeah," Gosaria began while waving her arms in a warding gesture, "We didn't mean to laugh!"

Nashigi actually stood her ground and pointed in the cat-girl's direction. "Ha, you think I'm afraid of a little water? I think not! Do your worst, Lina! Oohohoho!"

"Gladly…" Ranma said as she leapt into the air and gave the bucket a rapid spin. "Anything Goes School of Martial Arts Secret Attack: Drenched Rat Surprise!" With a quick flick of her wrist, Ranma sent the contents of the bucket hurtling directly towards the older girl.

Just as the liquid was about to hit, Ryoko -- with a somewhat board expression upon her face -- appeared directly in the line of fire. "Hey Pipsqueak, you have aAAHH!" She shouted as she suddenly became completely drenched in water. "Gah, I'm soaked!" Turning her head skyward, she noted the bucket that was in the hands of the young cat-girl. "Ranma…" Ryoko growled before appearing in front of the younger girl.

"Err-- Hey, Ryoko." Ranma answered with a nervous laugh. "Look, I didn't mean to get ya all wet; you just got in the way. It's your own fault!" The bucket in her hand was snatched away before finding a new home as a lovely covering for her head. "Hey," Ranma shouted in a muffled voice.

Ryoko placed an elbow on top of the bucket to keep the younger Masu from removing it. "What I was _**TRYING**_ to say before you gave me an impromptu bath," at the mention of being drenched, Ryoko raised her arm before bringing her elbow back down and striking it against the top of the bucket; eliciting a slight yelp from the cat-girl. "Is that you have a phone call."

"Who is it?" Ranma asked in a muffled voice.

The ex-space pirate gave a small shrug. "I don't know. All I know is that I was drafted for the job of telling you that someone was looking for a 'Lina Malfoy'." She reached up and scratched her head. "And I was enjoying such a nice nap…" With a small shake of her head, Ryoko moved away from the young redhead. "Well, I've already done what I was asked." With that, the older Masu teleported away from the area.

After removing the bucket from her head, Ranma floated down and halted next to her friends and daughter. "I wonder who's on the phone." She mumbled as she rubbed the top of her head. Her first guess was that it could be either Nodoka or Akane. Ranma decided not to dwell on it until she was actually at the phone. "C'mon, I'll take you guys down there the fast way."

"But I don't like teleporting." Gosaria whined as she was pulled towards the cat-girl. "It makes me feel all funny and weird!" The sudden change in scenery was hard to get used to as well.

"It's not that bad, Gosaria." Hermione said. "I'll admit that it does feel weird, but it _**IS**_ an incredible ability." She was actually slightly jealous over the fact that the cat-girl could teleport almost anywhere she wanted. "Say, Lina," She began a split second before Ranma teleported them down to the house, "How far can you actually teleport? Is there a limit?"

After letting go of her friends, and allowing a de-transformed Laira to hop onto her head, Ranma scratched the base of her ponytail as she thought about it. "The last time I checked, I could teleport to a distance of about 100 miles; as long as I have a clear image of the destination. I can manage a longer distance if I put more concentration into it, though." While the thought of it was amazing -- as portrayed in the expressions of her friends, -- Ranma still wished she could teleport farther to certain places -- such as Nerima and Juuban -- without requiring multiple teleports. It was one of the reasons why she disliked that her Masu powers had to grow with time instead of training.

Deciding to toss the thought away for now, Ranma made her way over to the phone and accepted it from Sasami. "Hello, this is Lina Malfoy." She said as she placed the receiver near her ear. "Who--"

"_**YOU JACKASS!!**_" The voice on the other end shouted loudly enough to play havoc on the cat-girl's eardrums and almost send Laira flying off of the top of her head. Needless-to-say, the voice was also loud enough for nearly everyone to hear it. "_**YOU'VE BEEN ALIVE ALL THESE YEARS AND NEVER EVEN SAID ANYTHING!" **_

"U-- Ukyo?" Ranma asked as she winced in pain due to the unexpected vocal assault on her sensitive ears. She was honestly surprised that the older woman had already managed to get in contact with her.

"You're _**DAMN RIGHT**_ that it's me!" Ukyo answered with a softer, but still royally pissed off, voice.

"How'd ya figure out how to get in contact--"

"Do you think I'm stupid?" The voice asked in annoyance. "I realized while laying in bed last night that Akane, Kasumi, and Nodoka seemed to know you _**EXTREMELY **_well all those years ago. In fact, when I thought about it, things seemed downright fishy!" The ex-fiancée caught her breath for a moment. "I decided to pay a visit to Akane earlier and told her that I _**KNEW**_ about you, and that I wanted _**ANSWERS**_. She ended up bringing me to the Saotome residence because Nodoka knew the number to where you might be."

Ranma scratched the side of her cheek and sweat-dropped. "Ah…" She managed to say. "Are ya still--"

"You're damn right I'm still here!" Ukyo responded. "And I want to see you in person _**NOW**_. I don't care how long it takes; just get your ass over here before I figure out where you are, and don't even think about trying to run! If that happens, I'll track you down and bend you over my knee and give your tailed behind the spanking of a lifetime! Is that clear?!"

"Crystal…" Ranma answered as the sweat-drop on her head grew bigger. She knew for a fact that the okonomiyaki chef meant what she said. Hell, she _**DID**_ spend 10 years to track 'him' down. Once she hung up the phone, Ranma turned around to see several pairs of eyes directed her way. "Um…"

"Who in the world _**WAS**_ that?" Noike asked with wide eyes as she walked up to the cat-girl. The adopted daughter of Seto Kamiki Jurai was able to hear the initial shout from the entrance to the kitchen.

"Ukyo Kuonji."

Hermione's eyes widened. "The ex-fiancée who found out who you really were yesterday?"

"Yeah," Ranma answered with a frown as she tried to ignore a laughing Ryoko. "She found out how to get hold of me faster than I thought, so now I have to make a trip to my former mother's house in Nerima and meet up with her." On the bright side of it all, she could visit Nerima and see how things were going after a year of absence. "Say, Lai, ya wanna go with me? You'll be able to see Sakura again."

A bright smile appeared on the cabbit's lips. "Okay, momma!"

"Lina," Hermione began, "You wouldn't mind if we came along, would you?" The young witch was honestly curious and interested about visiting other parts of Japan, and she didn't want to spend the remainder of the week stuck in one house when there were so many interesting things to see and learn about.

Gosaria nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah, I want to see someplace else! It'll be so boring if we can't come. Please?"

"Also," Nashigi said as she pushed some hair away from her eyes, "We'll be able to learn a little more about you. I'm rather tired of being in the dark so much when it comes to you. It's just not fair."

"I don't know…" Ranma began with a frown.

"I think it's a wonderful idea." Sasami announced as she placed a hand onto the young cat-girl's head. "It'll give you four a chance to spend some quality time together and learn some more information about a friend." Sasami glanced down at Ranma. "Besides, you haven't spent that much time with your friends since you got here. Doesn't it seem like a waste to bring your friends with you and not have any fun with them? What kind of friend forgets about the others?" She asked as she put a little pressure onto the top of the younger girl's head.

Ranma winced slightly as the message came across clearly. "Alright, they can come."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Um-- Lina," Hermione whispered as the group made their way down the sidewalk of a residential area of Nerima, "Don't you think it would be a good idea to hide your ears and tail? I could understand if we were around wizarding areas, but we aren't." The girls were also curious as to why their friend chose to walk on top of the fence… backwards. The walking backwards could be easily explained by the fact that the cat-girl was trying to help Laira with balancing on top of the fence as well, but that still didn't mean it wasn't odd.

"You're worrying too much, Hermione." Ranma answered as she continued to help her daughter walk atop the narrow path. It was the first chance since the cabbit obtained humanoid form that they could actually do some fence balancing. "It's not like anyone around this neighborhood's gonna walk up to us and ask odd questions; they prefer to not get involved if they don't have to."

"Why are you and Laira on top of the fence?" Gosaria asked.

Before she could answer, the Ranma had to quickly grab hold of Laira before the cabbit fell off. Once she had made sure her daughter was back in balance, Ranma turned her attention onto the blonde. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm teaching Laira balancing exercises, and one of the best ways to do that is to practice walking on top of a narrow fence." Reaching out, Ranma quickly saved her daughter from another potential spill. "C'mon Lai, pick up the pace." She added as she leapt a few feet away.

"But momma, I can't!" Laira whined as she waved her arms and attempted to stay balanced. "I'm going to fall if I try to take anymore steps, and I can't balance right."

"Not with that mentality, Lai. Don't think about it; just do it."

Nashigi raised an eyebrow as she glanced at the younger girl. "Don't you think you're expecting a little too much of her right now?"

"It does sound a little demanding to tell her to hurry up when she can't." Hermione added with a frown. She felt sorry for the young cabbit and wished she could do something. "As her mother, you should be more encouraging, and it'd probably help if you held her hands and went with it slowly. What you're doing now--"

"Hey," Ranma interrupted with a glare, "How I train Laira is none of your business; I'm being as fair and supportive as possible. It's not like I'm yelling insults at her, mocking her, or refusing to provide any help. If she's about to fall, I'll catch her." First she had received lip for how she was keeping her mother in the dark, and now she received lip for how she trained her daughter. "So keep your nose out of how I handle my family. I don't stick mine into yours, do I?"

Hermione opened her mouth to respond, but found that she was at a loss for anything to say. She had _**NOT**_ expected to receive such a vehement -- and rude -- reply from the redheaded cat-girl. Collecting herself for a moment so she didn't bite back with a vicious comment of her own, Hermione gave her friend an apologetic look. "I didn't mean to come off as bossy or nosey, Lina. I was just worried that you were being too hard and unfair on Laira when she's having trouble just standing on the fence." Why was it that she seemed to be getting on her friend's bad side lately?

"Ya can't hold someone's hand and help them do everything." Ranma replied as she quickly caught her daughter before the cabbit fell off. "See, I'm not letting her fall off. I may not be helping her balance and walk, but I'll help if she's about ready to fall." After helping Laira get her balance back, Ranma walked backwards a few feet to create a nice enough distance. However, the section of fence that she had stepped on was rather faulty and unstable, and so -- before she could even register what had happened -- Ranma ended up falling off the fence _**HERSELF**_.

Her friends and Laira -- who had managed to jump off of the fence -- couldn't help but bust out in laughter at the cat-girl's misfortune. Even the glare they had received didn't quell their amusement over what had happened to their friend, and the rather immature pouting she was doing wasn't helping matters any.

"Whatever…" Ranma finally said with her arms crossed. Not bothering with getting to her feet, she levitated up and hovered in the air about one and a half feet above the ground with her legs crossed. "Let's just hurry up."

"Lina, are you sure--"

"Don't worry about it, Hermione."

With that said, the group continued on in silence. They had managed to earn several glances from people passing by, but -- as Ranma had stated -- nobody said anything and had ignored what was happening. About five minutes later, they came to a halt in front of a gate that lead to a normal-looking house. The left side of the walkway was home to a variety of flowers that seemed to be well-maintained and cared for. The right side of the walkway was also well-kept, and a few stone lanterns decorated the area. A few toys -- such as a toy rubber ball -- could also be seen on the ground; a clear indication showing that Sakura had been playing outside recently.

After making their way to the entrance, Ranma raised a fist and proceeded to knock on the door. It didn't take long before the door opened to reveal Nodoka. When the woman caught sight of Ranma and Laira, a bright smile grew on her lips. "Ranma-chan," she greeted in a low voice that wouldn't be heard by anybody who shouldn't hear the name. When she caught a glimpse of Laira, the Saotome matriarch's eyes widened. "And is this Laira? You mentioned in a letter that she managed to gain a humanoid form, but I didn't think she would turn out so adorable." Nodoka couldn't help but giggle. "Except for the purple streaks in her hair, and the little bit of lavender in her left eye, she really could pass off for your child."

Laira brightened considerably at the observation as she reached out and grabbed hold of her mother's hand. It always annoyed her when people thought she was only some kind of creature, so to resemble and appear like she was the cat-girl's daughter was something she loved. "Thanks, grandma!" She chirped.

Nodoka couldn't help but return the smile. It was then that the woman noticed the three girls accompanying the young redhead. She promptly turned her attention to her former child.

"Oh yeah," Ranma said, "Mom, these are my friends Hermione Granger, Gosaria Negia, and Nashigi Rosa. They came to Japan with me for a few days, and they know some of the truth about me and why I'm here." One by one, the three girls greeted the older woman.

Giving a nod in understanding, Nodoka directed a welcoming smile at the three girls before moving from the doorway. "Sorry for making you stand outside; please come on inside."

As soon as the girls entered the house and had slipped their shoes off at the door, Ranma turned her attention to her former mother. "Say, mom, where's Sakura?"

"She's upstairs playing with a couple of friends." The faded-auburn-haired woman answered with a giggle. "Ukyo brought over a young girl she's watching, and the two of them have hit it off instantly. Sakura's other friend is someone she met a few months back when we had taken a trip to Juuban. They don't see each other often because of the distance, but they did manage to have a sleepover last night."

Ranma found it nice that her sister had made a few more friends. She was about to ask another question, but halted before she could utter even a sound as her arm blurred into motion. When she stopped, Ranma had three mini-spatulas held neatly between her fingers in the hand that she had used. Ignoring the shocked and confused looks her friends were giving her, the cat-girl's eyes traveled along the path that the projectiles had come from. Ranma finally halted when she spotted Ukyo; calmly sitting next to Akane on the sofa and directing a rather emotionless look her way.

"Ya could have hit my friends or Laira." The young redhead finally said as she flicked her wrist and sent the spatulas hurtling into the okonomiyaki chef's direction. Hermione would have said something, but Ukyo gracefully catching the returned weapons caused her to shut her mouth. "Kinda reckless, don't ya think?"

Ukyo pushed herself to her feet and slowly made her way over to the cat-girl. Finally stopping just about a foot away, Ukyo stared down at her with an impassive look. "Not when I knew you'd be able to catch them, _**RANMA**_."

Ranma put on the friendliest smile she could muster. "Ucchan, I--" A very hard slap to the face interrupted her from even continuing what she was going to say. Rubbing the mark on her cheek, Ranma stared at the woman. "Hey, Ucchan, what--" This time, her other cheek was the one that was slapped.

Her friends and Laira were going to help, but were stopped by both Akane and Nodoka who directed them towards the sofa. Upon the confused looks, Akane decided to elaborate by telling them that it wasn't their place to interfere, and that it was the redhead's mess to clean up.

"Don't you _**DARE**_ call me Ucchan again. You have _**NO RIGHT**_ to even use that name." Ukyo finally said in an impressively calm voice. She proceeded to reach out and grab Ranma by the collar of her shirt and lift her up to eye level. "I want to know why." The look of Ukyo's cold and calm eyes actually made the cat-girl shiver. "Why didn't you ever tell me you were alive? Do you even realize how devastated I was with you being killed? Why did you only allow Akane, Kasumi, and Nodoka to know?"

"Ryoga knows too." Ranma added without thinking.

Ukyo actually blinked for a moment. "That's not helping!" She finally shouted before her eyes began to soften. "Just tell me why you never revealed the truth to me. I want to know why I was left out of your… new life."

As she stared at the woman who had started slowly falling to pieces, Ranma could only sigh. "I had several reasons for not telling you or most of the people I knew."

"What kind of reasons could prevent you from telling nearly everyone you know?"

"Getting killed again sounds like a pretty good reason." Ranma deadpanned. At the confused look, she continued. "Look, Voldemort, the guy who killed me, considered me a threat of some kind. Even though he ended up getting defeated -- weakened and in hiding -- there's still a bunch of his followers running around. If word got around that I was alive in some way, and almost as weak as a normal child, don't you think some bastards would get it in their heads to do away with me _**AGAIN**_? It wasn't until I was around eight-years-old or so when I was able to do about _**HALF**_ of what I used to be able to do. You think I'd last that long before that? I already died once, and I don't plan on doing it again for a _**LONG**_ while."

Ukyo opened her mouth to respond, but immediately closed it. What Ranma had said did make sense. If you didn't have the power to defend yourself, and there was an unknown group wanting to kill you, then it really _**WOULD**_ have been better to pretend to be someone else; especially when they know you died. However, she still couldn't understand how Ranma was able to come back to life. "Okay," Ukyo said, "Then why did you let your mom, Akane, and Kasumi know?"

"Because that's how it ended up." Ranma stated simply. She didn't really want to elaborate more on it. "I wanted to tell some other people later on, but then I ended up receiving these." She pointed to her ears and tail. "And I also made a promise to someone to not reveal myself to anybody else because it could cause problems."

"What do you--"

"I can't tell you." Ranma answered with a shake of her head. Before Ukyo could react, the cat-girl continued. "Look, if you really want to know, make a visit to the Masaki Shrine in Okayama and explain yourself to Katsuhito Masaki. He's the one I promised."

Ukyo stared at the young redhead for a moment before lowering her back to the floor. She could easily understand why Ranma did it after hearing about how it was so the wrong people wouldn't learn the truth and kill her… again. However, she couldn't understand why Ranma would make such a promise to a Shinto priest, and what those cat appendages had to do with anything. She guessed that she really would have to make that trip to Okayama sometime in the future.

"Look, Ukyo," Ranma began as she scratched the base of her ponytail, "For what it's worth, I'm sorry that I kept you in the dark and hurt ya as much as I did." She proceeded to bow low to the woman.

Staring down at the bowing girl, Ukyo closed her eyes before turning around. "It's not as easy as that. You can't expect everything to go right with just a simple apology after a stunt like that."

"You sure didn't hesitate when I apologized to you all those years ago." Ranma bit back with a smirk. "You called off your revenge just like that." She dodged out of the way of a fist that was aimed for the top of her head.

"That was different!" Ukyo fought. "I was just a fickle and immature teenager back then, so of course an apology and being called cute would make me do a damn 180. It's going to take time, and a lot more than a simple apology for old wounds to actually heal. Even when such a time as that does occur, the one known as Ranma Saotome is long dead. To me, you are just a girl named Lina Inversia Malfoy, and I will never see you as the Ranma I once knew. His life and name has ended with him."

Ranma winced slightly at the older woman's speech. "That's kinda harsh, don't you think?" She had honestly hoped that Ukyo wouldn't be too angered by learning the truth, but it seems that she was wrong.

"Maybe," Ukyo said as she walked over and sat down in a chair. "But that's just how I feel right now. No matter how much I look at you, I always see the young cat-girl that I knew 10 years ago." The woman proceeded to sigh. "Still, I am glad that you are alive in _**SOME**_ form. I do wonder why you came back as a girl, though."

Ranma gave her a half-lidded stare. "The goddess put in charge of my rebirth was in a hurry and didn't check to see if I was the right gender or not." The silence that followed was deafening, but it was destroyed by the sudden laughter coming from the okonomiyaki chef, an incredulous stare from Hermione, and giggling from Nashigi, Gosaria, Akane, and Nodoka. The last two had heard the exact details before, but still found it humorous. Laira was the only one who didn't laugh at the issue. 'At least I can count on Lai.' Ranma thought with her arms crossed.

The cat-girl's ears gave a sudden twitch to the sound of footsteps on a squeaky floor. Following the sound to the source, Ranma noted it was coming from the top of the steps. When she glanced upward, she was able to see three small heads staring back down. Ranma was able to identify the raven-haired girl and brown-haired girl as Sakura and Makoto respectively. The third girl, who seemed to be rather shy, had an interesting shade of dark blue hair. They started to whisper to each other, and Ranma's ears were able to pick up the conversation.

"See, I told you the noise wasn't from the video game." Sakura said to Makoto. "It's Ra-- Lina-neechan." She had almost slipped up, but had managed to catch herself.

Makoto turned her head to the raven-haired girl. "Should we go down and see her now? I mean, I do want to see Lina-neechan again, but they might be busy talking." The young martial artist-in-training was saddened by the older girl's sudden departure the day before, and she didn't think she'd actually get to see her again so soon. "So she's almost exactly like a sister to you?"

Sakura gave a rather quick nod. "We've known each other for nine years… even thought I can't remember the first three years." She couldn't help it; she was a baby at the time. "Maybe she can be rude at times, but she's fun to hang around with."

"Um-- Guys," the third girl began shyly, "I think she knows we're here, because she's looking right at us." The other two girls stopped their conversation to see Ranma smirking in their direction and giving them the victory sign.

"That's how good her hearing is." Sakura said before telling the two girls to follow her down the stairs. As soon as she reached the bottom, Sakura raised a hand. "Ra-- Lina-neechan!" The raven-haired girl shouted as she ran up to the older girl and glomped onto her.

Ranma gave her sister a smile. "Hey, Sakura-chan." She said as she ruffled the child's hair. The cat-girl then turned her attention to the girl that stopped just behind Sakura. "Nice to see ya again, Makoto-chan."

"You really shouldn't have left yesterday." Makoto responded with a frown. "You could have at least said goodbye before leaving instead of just vanishing. I was going to ask you some things about martial arts before you left."

"Sorry about that." Ranma said as she scratched the base of her ponytail. 'Jeez, why is it that I seem to attract so many brats lately.' Alright, so maybe it was because she had a habit of showing off a little magic here and there, or perhaps it was because of her being part cat. In fact, it almost felt as if her tail was being pulled at that very moment. When she turned her head, she noticed that the one pulling it was the shy blue-haired girl.

Upon noticing that she was being watched, the girl let go of the tail and blushed. "Sorry…" She apologized in a small voice. "I like cats, and I wanted to know if your tail and ears were real." As if to answer her question, the crimson tail that she had previously grabbed had started to swish around. The girl could only watch in awe as the appendage moved around before reaching up and tickling her cheek. "Wow…"

"What's your name, kid?" The cat-girl asked.

The blue-haired girl blushed at being directly spoken to. "Ami Mizuno."

"I met her when mom and I took a trip to Juuban." Sakura spoke up. "Some kids were bullying her in the park because she was being shy. I stood up for her and chased the other kids off." She had to let off a small giggle. "Mom thought I was being a little too boyish, but didn't say anymore because I helped someone."

"Ahem," Nodoka interrupted with a small frown. "Seeing as how Sakura doesn't want to be a martial artist, I'm trying to teach her how to be a proper and traditional housewife. Running around and chasing people off is not the proper path to becoming proper young lady."

Sakura simply rolled her eyes at the statement. She found it to be incredibly annoying that her mother honestly expected her to shoot for a life as a normal little housewife. "Anyway, even though Ami-chan was shy, we still managed to play together for a little while until she had to go home." Sakura's lips turned into a frown. "Why is it that all of the friends I've made lately are all the way in Juuban? Usagi-chan and her family were only staying with relatives here in Nerima until their house got fixed up, and they moved back there a few months ago. Ami-chan and Makoto-chan also live in Juuban!"

It was obvious that the thought saddened Sakura, but her mood brightened when she had suddenly noticed Laira. She had shown surprise that the cabbit's hair and eye had drastically changed color from the last time she saw her after being rescued from Razzlof months ago. Makoto and Ami were rather curious to know who the cabbit was, and they were somewhat confused when Sakura stated that Laira was Ranma's daughter. Miraculously, the two girls refrained from asking the cat-girl any kind of odd questions about the idea.

Sakura was also curious as to who Hermione, Nashigi, and Gosaria were. Her sister answered by simply telling her that they were friends of hers from Hogwarts. That very answer had caused the raven-haired girl's eyes to widen when she remembered something that she needed to tell the cat-girl.

"Lina-neechan, I have something I need to show you!" Sakura announced in sheer excitement. She had wanted a chance to show her sister what she had managed to learn. "Watch this!" Holding her hand straight out, the young girl started to concentrate. It wasn't long until a sphere of wind magic began swirling around within her hand. "See, I can perform magic just like you! I found that I could do it a few days after last seeing you."

The reactions all around varied from person to person. Nodoka could only stare at her daughter with mouth wide open and eyes full of shock. The Saotome matriarch wondered just how her daughter could learn she could use magic and keep it a secret. Not counting Ranma -- because she was reborn in a different family before obtaining magical ability, -- nobody else in her direct family had been able to use magic for generations, so how did Sakura suddenly gain magic ability?

Akane and Ukyo were only mildly surprised. The former of the two's surprise mostly came from the fact that Sakura had never shown any magical ability before, and to suddenly bring it out now was the shock. The latter didn't know a thing about Sakura, and so she just found it interesting and amazing.

Ami had already seen the girl use a little magic a few months back, and Makoto had seen a demonstration when she was up in Sakura's room with the other two girls. Still, they both found themselves amazed by the fact that their friend could do something like she was doing. Makoto was honestly finding herself wishing she could do magic like Sakura and Ranma could do.

Hermione was wide-eyed to see that the younger girl could easily perform wandless magic just like a certain cat-girl could. Sure, in a way, the younger girl _**WAS**_ related to Ranma, but it was still a complete shock. Nashigi, on the other hand, thought it was awesome, and Gosaria actually clapped her hands.

After she got out of her initial surprise, Ranma found it hard to suppress a smirk. Ever since Sakura had told her of the dreams she was on that night during the Christmas Holiday, the cat-girl anticipated that her sister would end up gaining access to magic; she didn't think it would be so soon, though. Because of her magical ability, it was likely that Sakura would end up at a magic school later on. That brought on the question of just what kind of magic school was in Japan.

Tossing the thought out of her mind for now, Ranma reached over and ruffled the younger girl's hair. "Not bad at all, Sakura-chan, but you still have a long way to go before you can catch up to me." The comment earned her a raspberry from Sakura as the girl dropped her magic spell to catch her breath. "Looks like your magic is too low to do much of anything." Ranma taunted with another ruffling of the girl's hair.

"But why is it so low?" Sakura asked with a frown. "It's no fun getting tired after using some of it."

"You'll just have to wait until ya have access to more magic." The cat-girl responded with a shrug. Noticing the annoyed look on her sister's face, Ranma wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Listen kid," she whispered, "When I first started using magic, I could only do two spells before becoming exhausted. Give it time; I'm sure you'll be able to do more later on."

"I guess." Sakura said as she continued to pout. "You'll teach me a few things later, right Lina-neechan?" She proceeded to bring forth the dreaded puppy-dog eyes attack. She knew the older girl had trouble ignoring the look, and that's why she did it.

Ranma had to sweat-drop as the raven-haired child assaulted her with the teary-eyed pout. She attempted to resist it, but found that it was impossible when the look came from the smaller girl. Finally, with a sigh, she agreed to help the girl whenever she was able to use more magic without feeling tired.

"Yeah!" Sakura shouted in happiness as she leapt into the air. "I'm going to learn magic and become a sorceress!" She knew several spells she wanted to try from those dreams she had of that Luna Inverse woman.

Nodoka gave off a long and drawn out sigh. She really had wanted her daughter to grow up to be more traditional, but it seemed that several factors were working against her. Still, Nodoka found that she did have some sense of pride in knowing that her daughter had access to magic.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma had originally anticipated that the visit to her former mother's place would turn out hectic and out of control. However, everything had seemed unusually calm, and the cat-girl was expecting _**SOMETHING**_ to end up happening sooner instead of later. It's just how things always seemed to operate every single time it managed to get too calm and uneventful.

Akane had actually left a few moments earlier so she could get back home to her husband and daughter. She had told the cat-girl that she should come over sometime so Yuzuya could see 'funny-looking kitty girl' again. The comment had earned a mumbled comment from Ranma, which prompted Akane to give the girl a quick and hard flick to the nose before heading out the door.

Perhaps one of the most interesting things was that Hermione and Ami actually seemed to get along quite well. A discussion earlier -- started by Hermione -- had somehow sparked Sakura, Makoto, and Ami to speak about their choices of future careers. Sakura had stated -- with a pointed look towards her mother -- that she did _**NOT**_ want to become a traditional housewife, and wanted, instead, to become an actress, comedian, or manga artist. That had also prompted Sakura to collect some of her drawings of such things as Doraemon, Astro Boy, Anpanman, Super Mario, and other various things.

Ranma honestly thought -- with a rather large sweat-drop -- that the drawings were extremely good. Drawing was definitely something the cat-girl wasn't any good at. Sure, she could doodle without any kind of problem, but to actually try and draw was something else entirely. Anything she attempted tended to come out looking crooked and disproportioned.

Makoto only had one large desire; to become a professional chef cooking for people to make them happy. Ranma thought it was kind of sappy in a way, but could understand that the girl had a love for cooking.

Ami also had one career in mind that she desired greatly. The young blue-haired girl wanted to take after her mother and become a doctor. She had accompanied her mother a couple of times to the woman's job at the hospital, and after seeing her mother in action, Ami had found that she wanted to follow in the woman's footsteps so she, too, could help people with a multitude of issues that they were having.

However, there was one obstacle standing in the young girl's way. She wanted to become a doctor, but she found out that to do that, she would need to study extremely hard and get into a university for even more training and learning. The thought caused Ami to feel down due to the fact that she was already having some trouble at school. It wasn't that she didn't like school, because she did like it, and she loved the idea of learning. No, the problem was that she had a tough time remembering certain things, and that caused her no end of trouble in such things as tests and assignments.

In response to it all, Hermione had gently led Ami to the spot next to her on the sofa and proceeded to give the younger girl tips on how she could accomplish what she was trying to do. Hermione had explained to the girl that it always helped to take as many notes as she could, and that reading book chapters and pages beforehand would also allow her to get a jump ahead.

As she watched the two discuss the proper ways to study and take notes, Ranma couldn't help but feel that the younger of the two was actually a Hermione in the making. The way Ami seemed to take in the information and repeat it back in understanding before listening again was a possible sure sign of things to come. If the thought of that wasn't odd enough, then the fact that the two talked for almost half-an-hour about it was.

Of course, the inevitable annoyance that Ranma had expected to happen did, indeed, happen. Nodoka had asked -- to the young cat-girl's utter disgust -- if the girl had found any cute boys yet, and if not, she might be able to help her out. Needless-to-say, Nodoka received a rather vehement rant.

"Jeez, will you just knock it off with the damn boy talk?!" Ranma asked with a pointed glare. "How many times do I have to tell ya before you finally get it that I don't. Like. Boys!?" She had received a lot of attention for her shout. "The very idea makes me sick and disgusted! Just give it up!"

Nodoka blinked for a moment before a smile appeared on her lips. The Saotome Matriarch proceeded to gently lift the young girl's chin with a hand. "Don't worry, dear, you're still going through a phase. Sooner or later, your hormones will kick in and allow you to meet that special boy."

Ranma -- to the surprise of everyone -- instantly slapped the hand away from her chin and stared at the shocked woman with a harder glare. "What the hell is so hard about it to accept and understand? The only thing about me that's female is my physical body; that's it! Just ask Washu-chan about all the tests and scans she has performed!"

"Be that as it may," Nodoka said with a frown. "You are still a girl, and--"

"Oh, that's a good one." Ranma deadpanned. "Narcissa doesn't have any problem with it. She may not know the full truth, but she knows that I prefer girls, and that I'd rather have my limbs painfully torn off than be attracted to or romantically involved with any kind of male."

Nodoka had an almost shocked and confused look on her face. "R-- Really? But why--"

Ranma crossed her arms and continued to glare at the woman before her. Why did it seem harder and harder lately to see her as a mother? "She said, and I quote, 'Maybe I do have some anger and disgust over the fact, but I am still your mother. A mother should be there for her child no matter what. If said child committed a crime, the mother should still -- deep down -- love her child unconditionally. Some expectations of what a mother expects of her child end up destroyed, but should she give up? Or should she just create new expectations that respond to the change?' She also said that she wanted to be there for me, and wouldn't let stupid things like me preferring the same gender get in the way of that." As she ended, Ranma subconsciously touched the locket that she had hiding under her shirt.

Opening her mouth to say something, Nodoka found that she honestly couldn't. She always did want the cat-girl to spend some more time with Narcissa and give the woman a chance to be a mother. However, to Nodoka, it didn't seem that her former child would ever get close to the other woman, but the exact opposite seemed to have happened within just a month, and now Ranma valued Narcissa's opinion -- which, while it made sense, just wasn't proper -- over hers. Her eyes also transfixed on what she noted to be a chain around the girl's neck that was attached to either a pendant or locket. Ranma was never fond of any kind of jewelry that she had tried to get her on several occasions, but here she was wearing something that she possibly received from Narcissa. It was at that moment when Nodoka realized just how badly she had lost the true title of 'mother'.

"I see," she said with a small frown. "Did you have fun spending last month with Narcissa."

Unaware of the Saotome matriarch's current feelings, Ranma answered with a nod. "Yeah, I did have a lot of fun; I wasn't fond of some of the more girly things we did together, though. However, she didn't want us to do those things because she thought they were something I _**SHOULD**_ do _**BECAUSE**_ I am a girl. Instead, she wanted us to do those things just for the sake of spending time together, and I sure the hell prefer that reason to the one of me doing them _**BECAUSE**_ I'm a girl."

Nodoka had to let loose a sigh that she didn't know she was holding. It honestly was depressing when you learned that the child you did consider to be yours -- even if said child was reborn to another family -- got along better with -- and preferred -- someone else after just a month. "It's nice to know that you get along better with your mother than you do with me." Nodoka finally said in a soft voice. "I guess I really shouldn't try and tell you what you should or shouldn't do since I'm honestly not your mother."

"Huh?" Ranma asked intelligently. Did she just put her foot into her mouth and say something that hurt the woman's feelings? "H-- Hey, I didn't mean that I don't think of you as a second mother or anything." The wording of that almost seemed to come out wrong. "It's just that… well--"

"I understand, dear." Nodoka answered with sad smile as she patted the young cat-girl's head. "Narcissa understands a lot better than I ever could, and that's why you seem to get along better with her than me." Sure, she still thought of the girl as hers, but she guessed that it was akin to putting your child up for adoption. She could still be in the girl's life, but not as her true mother. In a way, Nodoka was still a -- very distant -- relative of the cat-girl. "I should go and prepare some more tea." She said as she walked away from her former child and made her way towards the kitchen.

"Wait a minute. I didn't mean…" Ranma trailed off and scratched the base of her ponytail. That discussion did not go as well as she would have liked it to.

Sakura shook her head as she placed a hand onto the older girl's shoulder. "That didn't turn out too well, Lina-neechan." She had easily noticed that the discussion had saddened her mother. However, she did understand why her pseudo-sister went off like she did. "Don't worry about it; you said what you had to, right?"

"Still rather harsh." Ukyo responded from her spot near a confused Makoto. Okay, so maybe she didn't understand most of what was going on, or who Ranma's new family was, but she did know that the young cat-girl shouldn't have been that pointed about it.

Hermione had attempted to say something, but was stopped by Nashigi who gave her negative shake of the head telling her to not say a word. Hermione was reluctant to back down and not have herself heard, but finally did when it was obvious that Nashigi wouldn't remove her hand unless she did give it a rest. The brown-haired girl quickly went back to talking to Ami; the younger girl honestly did remind her of herself in a way.

Gosaria and Laira were actually occupied with looking through the stack of drawings that Sakura had brought out to show them. Laira would occasionally send mental images of what she was seeing to Ranma, and the cat-girl honestly couldn't think of anything to say in regards to the drawings.

When Nodoka had returned, it almost seemed as if she was back to normal, but Ranma thought that the woman was acting slightly different towards her. It wasn't noticeable, and so she figured that it was mostly due to her imagination. However, there was the small nagging feeling within the back of her mind telling her that something had -- somehow -- changed in her relationship with her former mother. If it was a good thing or not, Ranma had absolutely no idea.

It wasn't long until Ranma felt that it was time to leave. She wanted to get back to the Masaki home and do a little training. She also had an idea in mind that she wanted to try out. The idea came from a dream she had last night that involved her performing some kind of strange Yarn Ball Style Martial Arts. Sure, the idea sounded odd, but Ranma found that the dream made it seem like it could be done. All she would need to do it would be to take the string and infuse it with ki, and maybe use a variety of other material for a variety of effects. Honestly, the dream also made her consider a possible way to revamp the entire Neko-ken style and make it fully usable.

"Lina," Hermione began, "There's still a great deal of time left in the day. Nashigi, Gosaria, and I were actually wondering if you could show us more of the sights. We've never been to Japan before, and so it would be nice if you could take us on a tour."

"Yeah," Gosaria agreed, "I want to look around some more as well."

Nashigi nodded in agreement. "You know a great deal of things about this place, and it would only be proper to take and show your friends around. Besides, didn't Sasami mention something about how we haven't spent that much time together, and it would be good to take this chance to have some fun?"

"Ya know," Ukyo began with a smirk. The day actually turned out to be rather amusing. Besides, she was still slightly peeved about not being told about Ranma's secret. "Your friends are right. A good friend would take the moment to show their friends a good time." The chef placed a finger to her cheek. "Maybe you could show them around Akihabara or Harajuku. Some place where they would like to go."

"What are those?" Gosaria asked with a tilt of her head.

"Akihabara is a shopping district for electronics, arcades, anime, and other similar things." Sakura piped up quickly. "Harajuku is also a shopping district, but it involves a lot of different clothing styles and fashion." The young girl stopped for a moment before going back to her explanation, but this time with excitement. "Harajuku also has a huge toy store called Kiddy Land!" At the mention of 'huge toy store', Gosaria's eyes almost seemed to sparkle. Likewise, Nashigi was excited over the idea of clothes.

A slight frown appeared on Hermione's lips. "They sound interesting, but I don't think I'd really want to spend time walking through electronic, clothing, or toy stores."

"Um," Ami began softly, "There is a district called Jinbocho. It has a lot of book stores and antique shops." As soon as the sentence had left the young girl's mouth, Hermione's eyes sparkled with sheer delight at the thought of browsing through shelves of books. To her, books were a lot better than clothing and electronics.

"Lina," all three girls said at once as they turned their attention onto their cat-girl friend, "Can you take us to Jinbocho/Harajuku? Please?" All three had even used a well-coordinated puppy-dog eyes attack that caused Ranma's eye to twitch violently. It wasn't hard to think of Gosaria or Nashigi doing it, but for Hermione -- of all people -- to use the method…

"Alright," Ranma answered as she raised her hands in defeat, "I'll take ya all to visit Jinbocho and Harajuku." In response, the three girls gave shouts of joy and wrapped their arms around the cat-girl. "But we're also gonna go to Akihabara! If I have to suffer through taking you to Harajuku and Jinbocho, then you're going to suffer through Akihabara!"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma had to give off an exhausted sigh as the group finally returned to the Masaki home. She had originally assumed that the entire trip through Akihabara, Jinbocho, and Harajuku would only take an hour/hour-and-a-half tops. The reality of it all had actually hit her when they were passing the third hour, and it had completely ran her over when they finally hit the sixth hour mark… or was it the seventh hour mark? Yeah, it was the seventh hour.

She had actually decided that the first place they'd stop at would be Akihabara. Maybe, now that she thought about it, it would have been a good idea to stop at that destination last. However, at the time, she had only thought about going there first to possibly build up her willingness to actually travel to the other locations they were going to. In reality, it only made her reluctant to leave the area and wish she had chosen it as second or third stop.

One thing she had to do before they entered the area was to place a hat over her ears and hide her tail. She had made the mistake one time of walking through the place without the necessary precaution, and what had happened was that she had been surrounded by a bunch of crazed otaku who had tugged on her ears and tail, glomped onto her, taken pictures of her, sniffed her hair, and all around freaked her out into completely incapacitating each and every one of the men and women who invaded her personal space. After that, she had taken all of the cameras she could and soundly disposed of them with a lovely fireball show. Since then, Ranma had made absolutely sure that whenever she did visit any area even remotely near Akihabara, her ears and tail were well hidden. Sure, Ryoko and the others -- except for Laira -- found it funny when they had found out, but she definitely didn't. It would have been outright traumatizing for a weaker person, but for Ranma, it was only incredibly sickening and disturbing.

The first thing that they had done when they arrived at Akihabara was -- because Laira wanted to go there -- to head for one of the shops that provided anime and manga. When they had returned to the Masaki home a few days ago, Laira had started to read a relatively new manga series that was about alchemy and transmutations, and so she wanted to see if she could find anymore. Since she gained the ability to use some kind of acidic solvent after assimilating the Philosopher's Stone, Laira had wondered if she could do any other kind of alchemic deeds.

The next stop that they had made was to an electronics store. Gosaria had -- once again -- fallen into both awe and confusion over all the technologic gadgets and pieces she was surrounded by. She had to constantly be stopped from touching certain electronics, and prevented from picking things up as well.

The last thing that they had done while in Akihabara was to visit an arcade, and Ranma had actually managed to convince the others into playing some fighting games against her... which resulted in her soundly thrashing each one of her friends. Of course, there was the fact that they didn't understand what they had to do at first, but oh well. Laira, though, was able to provide the redhead a sound challenge in the games.

Both Laira and Ranma were rather reluctant to even leave the area, but Ranma had to finally agree to teleport the girls to the next stop on the trip: Jinbocho.

All in all, the redhead had found the place to be rather boring, but it was obvious that Hermione had fun browsing through various books. However, her browsing through books did cause Hermione to notice something that she hadn't paid attention to during their previous stop and after arriving in Japan. She had noticed -- as she skimmed a book -- that even though the text was in Japanese, she could read it without a problem. That fact had also dawned on Nashigi and Gosaria as well, and so the trio had brought their finding to Ranma.

The cat-girl's response was a simple one: The universal translators that Washu had them put in their ears the day they arrived. While the main function was to change how spoken languages were sent and received, they also gradually filled information into the brain that allowed one to learn the various languages that surrounded them. Even though the girls had never learned how to read, write, listen, and speak Japanese, the universal translator devices had injected the information into their brains to allow them proper communication and reading of the language. When asked why Washu had never explained that to them in the first place, Ranma responded by saying that the diminutive genius had wanted them to learn it on their own first hand.

Interestingly enough, the group had also come across a wizarding bookstore taking up residence in an otherwise vacant lot. It was probably the third time that Ranma had actually bothered to enter one of the many scattered Japanese wizarding shops that she had come across throughout the years. While many magical shops were hidden like the ones in Europe were, there were some that actually were visible to the non-magical populace. Those types tended to mostly sell various charms, good luck objects, and other similar things.

Hermione had enjoyed browsing through the various subjects found with each book she touched. In fact, when it came time to finally leave Jinbocho -- about two hours later, -- it was Hermione's turn to feel reluctance in having to travel to the next destination; one that didn't really seem all that desirable.

Immediately after appearing in Harajuku, the group had found there way onto Takeshita Street. The first thing that had happened was that Nashigi and Gosaria had spotted some rather elaborate outfits in the window of a shop, and so -- along with Laira's help -- they proceeded to drag Ranma and Hermione into the building. What had occurred after that was what almost could have been considered as a fashion show of trying on various outfits that literally exhausted the redheaded cat-girl.

The highlight of it all, though, had to be seeing Hermione -- of all people -- wearing a black with white lace Gothic Lolita outfit that Nashigi had somehow managed to talk her into trying out. It was obvious how embarrassed Hermione had been as she wore the outfit. The brown-haired girl had pulled on the short and frilly skirt in an attempt to cover her legs, but it was to no avail. The girl's blush had worsened when Ranma had started to laugh her ass off over the whole scene.

That moment had actually set in motion Hermione's first ever revenge plan. By collaborating with Gosaria, Nashigi, and Laira, the young witch had managed to get a complaining Ranma into a pink and black puffy-sleeved Gothic Lolita dress complete with pink stockings, laced black heel-shoes, and matching umbrella. However, Hermione's satisfaction at revenge ended up destroyed when the cat-girl smugly mentioned -- as she opened the umbrella -- that she 'made the outfit look good'. Sure, Ranma didn't really care much for trying on clothes, thought the outfit was too pink, girly, and frilly, and wouldn't be caught walking around in such a thing unless there was a good reason, but it was a great opportunity to rain on Hermione's parade and turn the girl's 'victory' into a 'loss'. Of course, at the same time, the desire to quickly get out of the large and frilly outfit was at the forefront of her mind. What she had worn had reminded her too much of the Sailor Pompom uniform she was stuck with.

After what had seemed to be an agonizingly long time, along with having to see Nashigi try on an outfit that had looked a little _**TOO**_ much like the outfit worn by her past incarnation -- and nearly being forced into a disturbingly similar outfit, -- the group finally left Takeshita Street. However, Gosaria had remembered it mentioned that there was some kind of toy store around the area, and she had wanted to visit the place. Ranma, who wished that the blonde had forgotten about the place, tiredly lead the way to the area known as Omotesando.

After they made their way through the crowds and traffic, they came to a large grey building with the name 'Kiddy Land' above the entrance. Upon entering the store, Gosaria's eyes had instantly gone shiny; it was the only warning anyone had before the blonde had merrily skipped off and begun browsing. Gosaria had almost seemed to practically teleport from area to area without missing a beat. She didn't stop jumping around until Ranma had whacked her upside the head with a fist. After that, the blonde had calmed down, but went back to being excited when she found an obscenely cute jellyfish plush toy with a top-hat, monocle, and teacup.

When her eyes had lain upon that very object of unholy plush, Gosaria had -- without even a thought -- ran over and grabbed it into one big hug. Once she had the plush in her arms, the blonde had turned her attention to Ranma. As if she had teleported, Gosaria's face had appeared just inches from the redhead, and -- as if she were a young child -- her shiny blue eyes stared pleadingly into her friend's dual-colored ones. Ranma had attempted to stand her ground by saying that Gosaria was too old for useless things like that, but the blonde just wouldn't relent.

After what had seemed like an eternity, Ranma had finally given up and checked the price tag. Considering that she only had 4,000 yen on her at that moment -- she had had more, but she ended up buying some manga for Laira, -- 1,500 yen for a cheap-looking plush toy seemed like an incredible rip-off. None-the-less, she had decided that, as a proper friend -- actually, more like doing it so that Gosaria would knock off the blasted sad-eyes shtick, -- getting her the toy would be the proper thing to do. Once that deed had been done, and Gosaria had given Ranma a great big hug and a childish -- and incredibly embarrassing -- kiss on the cheek, they were finally able to call it a day and head back to the Masaki household…

…Which was what they were doing at that very moment. Ranma was tired and exhausted, and all she wanted to do was get home, flop down onto her ass, and relax until it was time to go fall into bed. She didn't want to think about anything else for the remainder of the night. So, of course, something had to pop up that would completely ruin those plans.

"Karaoke?" Ranma asked as soon as the group entered the house and were met by Sasami. The older girl had just informed them that everyone just felt a desire for a karaoke night, and so they had pulled out the portable karaoke machine. "You've gotta be kidding me."

"What's the matter, pipsqueak?" Ryoko asked as she appeared above the cat-girl. "Afraid to let your friends know that you have such a lovely singing voice?" She wasn't being sarcastic either; the young redhead really could sing. Ryoko had challenged Ranma a few years ago to sing, and she had taken her up on the challenge and easily won.

"No, that's not--"

"Lina, you can sing?" Hermione asked with wide eyes. The idea of her friend singing sounded -- in a way -- strange. It wasn't that she didn't believe it; it's just that it was something that didn't seem 'Lina-like'.

"That sounds awesome!" Gosaria spoke up as she glanced at the cat-girl in front of her. "Are you really good at it, Lina?"

"Well," Ranma began as she scratched her cheek, "I don't mean to brag, but I do have a bit of talent when it comes to singing. I mean, there _**ARE**_ a lot of things that I have a talent for." She ended with a small chuckle that caused everyone to sweat-drop, and Laira to place a hand to her forehead and sigh. Sometimes her mother's ego really did get the best of her.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"So why do I have to sing with Boobzilla?" Ranma asked with a frown as she stood next to Nashigi. Both of them were standing on the raised platform that was usually reserved for the low table; making the area seem like a kind of stage. Instead of the low table, there was a small karaoke set, and both Ranma and Nashigi were holding microphones.

"Because, Lina," Nashigi began as she placed a hand to her chest, "My beautiful voice will add some elegance to an otherwise mediocre performance."

"Jeez, sometimes I wonder if you're of some relation to the Kunos." Ranma grumbled to herself as she tapped her finger on the microphone a couple times. "So why do I have to sing with her?"

"Well," Noike said, "Nashigi said that she had never participated in karaoke before, so we thought it might be a good idea to let her sing with you so she could get the hang of it. Hermione and Gosaria will also get a chance to sing as well." The woman's eyes quickly narrowed when something caught her eye. "MIHOSHI! GET AWAY FROM THE MACHINE! YOU REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME, DON'T YOU?!"

Mihoshi gave a cry of surprise as she quickly jumped away from the Karaoke unit. "You didn't have to yell, Noike-chan. I just wanted to see if it was plugged in correctly!"

"WELL DON'T!" Noike's shout caused the blonde to cover her head and move over to a safer area.

Gosaria tilted her head as she attempted to make her way over to the song machine. "So this thing plays songs? How do you turn it-- OOWW!" She cried in pain as she clutched the top of her head.

"And don't you go touching it without permission either." Washu said as she closed a paper fan that she had used to whack the girl upside the head with. While Gosaria wasn't nearly as bad as Mihoshi, it still wasn't safe to allow her to mess with things she shouldn't.

Ayeka placed a hand to her cheek. "You know, we still haven't thought of a song that they could sing."

"Maybe we should have it pick out a random song." Tenchi supplied.

Washu interrupted by snapping her fingers. "I know a song they can sing. It's been around the galaxy since my academy days, but it lost popularity over the years. However, it seems that it has also begun to gain its popularity back." The diminutive genius managed to hide her amusement. "I'd actually like to see them try and sing it." After typing away on her laptop, a subspace pocket opened up and spit out a disk. Taking it, Washu made her way over to the karaoke machine and inserted it. "Alright you two, get ready." After turning the machine on, Washu walked away and took a seat with the rest of the house.

The view screen soon popped up with the title of the song: A Maiden's Prayer. This prompted Ranma to give Washu a half-lidded stare. It wasn't long before the beginning music started to play out, and Ranma began to find herself with an odd feeling of Déjà vu. In fact, the song seemed completely familiar, and the only thing that seemed drastically different was who her singing partner currently was. She was about to say something about it, but the main part of the song started playing, and she had to start singing.

"_To a girl who falls in love with love," _A minor sweat-drop appeared on Ranma's head, but she continued on to keep in sync with a somewhat terrible Nashigi. _"You're too dazzling, my darling."_

"_Glittering rouge" "A desired-- uh-- Dream"_

"_A pink peach"_

"_I want you to reach my maiden's prayer. A tiny silver boat floating in the night sky sways in the waves of love and hate. Burning a kiss into my little chest, my heart is flying back to you."_

"_Please reach, my maiden's wish. I give my entire pure, pretty self to you."_

When the music break began, Ranma had to give her head a quick shake. She knew why the song sounded so damn familiar. Lina Inverse had sung it at one time, but her singing partner at the time was that girl, Amelia. Upon taking a look at Nashigi next to her, Ranma noticed that the older girl seemed rather flustered with the fact that she wasn't doing too well. The cat-girl would have made a crack about what the girl had said earlier, but didn't have time because the music got back to the main part.

"_To a girl who falls in love with love, you're too dazzling, my darling."_

"_Giddying cologne" "A… Shining dream"_

"_I want you to grant my maiden's wish. Surfing the night's sky, a tiny silver boat sways in the waves of love and hate. Burning a kiss into my tiny chest, my heart is flying back to you."_

"_Please reach, my maiden's wish. A blown kiss is a boomerang; a one-way ticket boomerang."_

"_I-- um-- give my entire pure, pretty self to you." "I want to place my feelings astride a white Pegasus"_

"_And to deliver to you the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle of love."_

As soon as the song had stopped, a pink tinge appeared on Ranma's cheeks as she began scratching the base of her ponytail. That wasn't as bad as she had originally thought it would be, and she had fun listening to Nashigi go completely off tune and mess up on certain things. "What's the matter? I thought you said that you had a beautiful voice. From what I could hear, you were only scraping by because of me."

Nashigi crossed her arms and lifted her chin. "Ha, I just never heard that song before. If I had, I would have done much better than I had."

"Face it," Ranma said as she gave the older girl a wink and victory sign, "You just couldn't keep up with the better singer. C'mon, say it." The cat-girl proceeded to teleport to various spots around the older girl and. "C'mon, say that you couldn't keep up." She said as she gave the girl several pokes. "C'mon already!"

"Fine," Nashigi stated with a frown as she raised an arm, "I admit it; I couldn't keep up and lost to the one with the better singing abilities. I will accept this defeat, but next time, my formidable rival, I will be the one who triumphs."

Ranma gave off a simple shrug. "Whatever you say, Boobzilla." It always did feel good to get one of those confessions out of the older girl. With the constant annoying comments and delusions that Nashigi made at various turns, it was always satisfying to bring the girl down to earth. "Wanna have another go later on? I'll beat you again without a problem."

The rest of the people in the room could only sweat-drop at the antics of the two up on the pseudo-stage. The young cat-girl really did tend to get a little too competitive at times… even when it involved a calm and relaxing event such as karaoke.

xxA.Nxx

Holy crud in a barrel, this chapter turned out hellishly long, and the summer vacation has turned out longer than I had originally expected it would.

Hell, my original plan from a long time ago went something like this…

Chapter 20: Ranma's month with Narcissa, and then Ranma picking up the girls at the end of the chapter and heading to Japan.

Chapter 21: Spending some time in Japan before heading off to Mau

Chapter 22: Ranma's trip to Mau before returning to Earth.

Obviously, things didn't work out like that, and instead, my planning was edited to…

Ch. 20: Ranma's month with Narcissa, and then heading off to retrieve the girls

Ch. 21: Retrieving the girls and heading to Japan, and having things happen in Japan

Ch. 22: Finishing up the trip in Japan and having Ranma then go to Mau.

Ch. 23: Ranma's time on Mau before returning to Earth.

However, with how this chapter turned out, Ranma's leaving for Mau will now end up in chapter 23, and -- along with chapter 24 -- include Ranma's adventure on Mau before heading back to Earth.

Dang… it's crazy…

Anyway, onto an interesting thought that I've been wondering. What would happen if Washu, Ranma, Hermione, Skuld, Ami Mizuno, and -- just for the hell of it -- Kaolla Su ever got together in one room and combine their intellects and knowledge of various things

The mental image of it is rather… disturbing. The world -- no, universe -- would be doomed beyond repair.


End file.
